The number of beneficiaries of reimbursable medicines drops, one year after the expansion of the list

Nearly one year after the expansion of the list of reimbursable medicines with around 50 new drugs, the number of beneficiaries for the January–August period has decreased.

According to data from the report “Monitoring of the Ministry of Health Indicators” for January–August 2025, a total of 358,178 patients benefited from the list of reimbursable medicines, compared to the 400,000 projected, with a cost of 6,226 lek per patient. Compared to the same period in 2024, the number of beneficiaries fell by about 3,320 patients, or roughly 1%.

During the first eight months of 2025, around 7.9 billion lek were spent (paid) for the reimbursement of medicines from the list about 64% of the annual plan of 12.6 billion lek. In comparison, for the same period in 2024, approximately 8.2 billion lek were spent out of 12.2 billion lek planned, or 68% of the annual plan.

According to the Ministry of Health, the list of reimbursable medicines was expanded in August 2024, adding 50 new drugs and bringing the total to 1,345 treatment alternatives, up from 1,191 previously.

The newly added medications include 38 new active pharmaceutical ingredients and 18 new dosage forms. All of the new additions to the Reimbursable Medicines List support treatment across a wider range of diagnoses and pathologies, including oncological diseases, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, kidney diseases, bronchial asthma, pulmonary diseases, and others.

During the eight-month period of 2025, 56,066 patients benefited from diabetes testing strips 3,829 more than in the same period of the previous year.

For the reimbursement of medical devices (diabetes testing strips), 105.2 million lek were spent out of the 250 million lek annual plan, representing 70% of the total.

Meanwhile, in July 2024, Decision of the Council of Ministers No. 492, dated July 24, 2024, came into effect, expanding the categories eligible for diabetes testing strips to include work invalids and persons with disabilities aged 25 to 65 years.

In addition to patients with Diabetes Mellitus aged 0–25 and those aged 65 and above, the inclusion of new beneficiary groups in 2024 led to an increase in reimbursement costs for diabetes strips. A total of 147.2 million lek were spent for diabetes testing strips, compared to 110.5 million lek in 2023 a 33% increase in spending compared to the previous year. In 2024, 57,511 patients benefited from diabetes testing strips, or about 4% more than in 2023.

“KORÇA BOOM”