State to reimburse up to 90% of medicine costs for patients with chronic illnesses by 2026

Patients in Georgia spending money on medication for chronic illnesses will have up to 90 percent of their expenses reimbursed in a state programme by 2026, Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili said on Monday.

Azarashvili said the initiative was aimed at ensuring a "fair price" on the market, and would facilitate the reimbursement in combination with other initiatives, such as introduction of reference pricing on medical drugs starting next month.

The latter move, coming into force starting February 15, includes over 1,300 medicines for chronic and oncological illnesses in the first phase, with the system to be expanded to other categories later.

Under the initiative, pharmaceutical companies, importers, distributors and retailers of medical drugs will be prohibited from selling medicines at prices exceeding the references set by authorities.