Iran: Over-the-counter medication excluded from insurance cover
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jan 2018
Iran’s authorities have eliminated over-the-counter (OTC) medications such as analgesics, antihistamines, cough medication, from the list of drugs eligible for insurance reimbursement.
A Bill to remove the medications has been approved by the Supreme Council of Insurance, according to local media reports.
Dr Gholamreza Asghari, Chairman of the Food and Drug Administration, said that non-prescription drugs are simple and common, and people can buy them without a prescription from physicians, according to local media reports.
The total insurance coverage of OTC drugs is not large, amounting to about IRR14 billion (US$393,501), he said. The sum represents less than 1% of the amounts spent each year on medicines. This is a good decision, he said, because the money saved would be used on other drugs that are needed for chronic illnesses.
Echoing the view, Dr Noushin Mohammad Hosseini, a senior expert of the country’s Committee on Drug Administration, said: “This resolution has good prospects. OTC drugs are low-cost drugs, which, according to insurance companies, do not have much effect on the cost of households, and the total government savings in this section will be allocated to other insured drugs.” M
IRR1,000 = US$0.03