Regulatory ambivalence and the limitations of pharmaceutical policy in Spain
Abstract
Broadly speaking, pharmaceutical policy in Spain has been unable to control either the price or the volume of drugs prescribed. Limited attempts have been made to bring together the regulation of the pharmaceutical market and policies, in pursuit of the desired goals of efficiency and quality. This paper assesses the regulation of the Spanish pharmaceutical market over the last two decades by examining regulation and policy and the available empirical evidence on their appreciable effects, and presents recommendations for policy design. Our findings suggest that policies aiming to improve efficiency and quality have not managed to contain costs, while cost-effectiveness is still overlooked. We argue that future policies should encourage broader participation in the decision-making processes and promote a higher degree of competition, especially from generic drugs.Download Info
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Paper provided by Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra in its series Economics Working Papers with number 762.Length:
Date of creation: Jun 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:762
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.econ.upf.edu/
Related research
Keywords: Spain; generic penetration; reference pricing; negative lists; pharmaceutical regulation;Other versions of this item:
- Joan Costa & Jaume Puig, 2004. "Regulatory ambivalence and the limitations of pharmaceutical policy in Spain," Working Papers, Research Center on Health and Economics 762, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
- I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
- L52 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Industrial Policy; Sectoral Planning Methods
- L65 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2004-12-12 (All new papers)
- NEP-EDU-2004-12-12 (Education)
- NEP-HEA-2004-12-02 (Health Economics)
- NEP-IND-2004-12-02 (Industrial Organization)
- NEP-REG-2004-12-12 (Regulation)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Puig-Junoy, Jaume, 2004. "Incentives and pharmaceutical reimbursement reforms in Spain," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 149-165, February.
- Guillem López & Joan Costa-Font & Ivan Planas, 2004.
"Diversity and regional inequalities: Assessing the outcomes of the Spanish 'System of Health Care Services',"
Working Papers, Research Center on Health and Economics
745, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
- Guillem López & Joan Costa-Font & Ivan Planas, 2004. "Diversity and regional inequalities: Assessing the outcomes of the Spanish 'System of Health Care Services'," Economics Working Papers 745, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Jorgen Lauridsen & Mariluz Sánchez & Mickael Bech, 2010. "Public pharmaceutical expenditure: identification of spatial effects," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 175-188, June.
- Guillem Lopez-Casasnovas & Joan Costa-Font & Ivan Planas, 2005. "Diversity and regional inequalities in the Spanish 'system of health care services'," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(S1), pages S221-S235.
- Jorgen Lauridsen & Mickael Bech & Fernando López & Mariluz Sánchez, 2010. "A spatiotemporal analysis of public pharmaceutical expenditure," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 299-314, April.
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