Surely you have heard about pharmaceutical copayment more than once, but you probably have doubts or don't know what exactly it is. However, understanding well what a co-payment is will help you when calculating medical expenses and organizing medication, whether for yourself, or to care for the elderly or polymedicated people.

The pharmaceutical co-payment is a system that appeared in 2012 with the intention, on the part of the Government, to reduce the spending that the State invested in public health, in the midst of the economic crisis. However, it can have an impact on the price of our medical treatment, making daily intakes more expensive.

NoneWhat is the pharmaceutical copayment?

The pharmaceutical copayment is the mandatory payment that a patient must make when purchasing a medicine or medical device that requires a prescription through the National Health System.

This contribution varies depending on the patient, ranging between 10% and 60%. When we talk about copayment, we can find different sections. Thus, it is possible to set the contribution that each user must make when organizing their medication. At the same time, it is defined what part public funds will cover.

Pharmaceutical copay brackets

When it comes to organizing our weekly pill box, its cost may vary at the end of the month depending on our personal situation. This is also reflected when caring for elderly or dependent people, since in many cases it is the family members or caregivers of the elderly who are in charge of organizing the medication.

In this section we can distinguish the different sections, which will determine the cost of the user's medication:

    • TS001: people economically vulnerable, as people foreigners, people who wear stopsFor a long time now, people insocial exclusion...These are the cases in which there is nothing to do no type of contribution.
    • TS002: is the section dedicated to the pensioners. The contribution of these, as we said before, is 10% al 60%, depending on the annual income.
    • TS003: here we place patients who work and get paidless than 18,000 euros per year. These have to pay a 40% of the price of the medicine.
    • TS004: workers who earn between €18,000 and €100,000 a year, and they pay half the price of medication, without monthly limit.
    • TS005: in this last section are the workers with income equal to or greater than 100,000 euros per year. In this case, they will pay the 60% of the price of the medication.

In addition to these groups, we find another made up of pensioners, who will not have to bear costs when organizing daily intakes.They are the officials who are assigned to the MUFACE (General Mutuality of State Civil Officials),MUGEJU and ISFAS,who will continue to pay, whether they have retired or continue to be active, 30% of the price of their medications at the pharmacy.

Who is currently exempt from copayment?

Since 2021, in Spain, pharmaceutical co-payment has ceased to be mandatory for some groups of the population.

This way, therapeutic adherence is facilitated for social groups with greater difficulty when making payments,  Organize your pills appropriately.

Therefore, it is not surprising that these profiles represent part of the population that has the greatest difficulty when following the medical plan. These situations may arise due to health problems, social context, cognitive impairment, or other adverse conditions.

    • Las people with disabilities in the cases contemplated in its specific regulations.
    • Los minors who have a recognized disability equal to or greater than 33%.
    • People affected by toxic syndrome.
    • People with treatments derived from work accident o occupational disease.
    • Perceivers of social integration income.
    • The people receiving non-contributory pensions.
    • Beneficiaries of minimum vital income.
    • People with economic benefits per child or dependent minor.
    • The people who are in the paro.
    • Pensioners with low income (below €5,635, or €11,200 if they are not required to file a personal income tax return).

If your question is yes the co-payment exemption affects all of Spain, the answer is yes. This measure is part of the General State Budgets 2021, therefore this exception affects all the Autonomous Communities of the country.

Not carrying out correct monitoring of medical treatment It has a negative impact on therapeutic adherence, often caused by making accidental errors in the organization of medication.

When we talk about pharmaceutical co-payment, it is vitally important to know what social bracket we fall into. In this way, we will be aware at all times of the cost of our medical treatment, and be able to organize our medication correctly, without the cost of the weekly pill box representing an impediment at the end of the month.

In the case of those who do not have sufficient financial resources, and are in a situation of pharmaceutical poverty, they can seek alternatives through different associations and entities like the ones we explain in this post.


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