April Drug Tariff News
Category M price adjustments
Over half of Category M prices down in Quarter 1 adjustment
The Department of Health and Social Care has published the Q1 (April 22) Category M adjustment.
In summary:
Reference DDA website.
Additions to Part 2
6 items have been added to Part 2 of the April Drug Tariff, ones which I think you may find of interest are listed below:
Items which fall into part 2 generally have no wholesaler discount and so you would be dispensing at a loss. Therefore, these are items which you may consider sending the prescription to a local pharmacy.
Additions to Part 8a
Only 5 items have been added to Part 8a of the April Drug Tariff. Ones that I think you may find of interest are:
Levofloxacin 5mg/ml eye drops, 0.5ml unit dose -preservative free has gone into the April Drug Tariff as a category C item with the reimbursement of £15.25 based on Oxalux.
Propylthiouracil 100mg tablets and 25mg tablets have both gone into the April Drug Tariff as Category A items – both generically available with a healthy margin.
Sodium bicarbonate 500mg gastro-resistant capsules have gone into the April Drug Tariff as a Category C item with the reimbursement price based on Nephrotrans
Previously if any of the items above had been prescribed generically, you would have had to endorse the brand, manufacturer, pack size and price paid in the left-hand column. As the items are now in the Drug Tariff, no endorsement is required.
Deletions to Part 8a
Only 2 items have been deleted from the April Drug Tariff, please see below:
Aspirin 300mg dispersible tablets, pack size 100 has been removed from the April Drug Tariff, the pack of 32 is still listed.
Co-triamterzide 50mg/25mg tablets have been removed from the April Drug Tariff, this was more commonly known as Dyazide – this was discontinued in November 2021.
Items which have been removed from the Drug Tariff can still be prescribed and dispensed but you will need to endorse the prescription with manufacturer, pack size and price paid.
Other Changes to Part 8a
17 items are listed in ‘Other Changes, ones which I think you will find of interest are:
Acamprosate 333mg gastro resistant tablets have moved from a Category A with the reimbursement of £42.44 to a Category M with the reimbursement price of £25.70. Please take care when purchasing as there is a fast range of procurement prices out there ranging from £23.89 up to £35.00.
Macrogol compound oral powder sachets – sugar free has moved from a Category M item with the reimbursement price of £6.09 to a Category C item and a reimbursement price has dropped to £4.29. The Drug Tariff doesn’t state who the £4.29 is based on but the list price of Laxido and Cosmocol are both £4.29. Both Laxido and Cosmocol have Manufacturing Discount schemes available.
Melatonin 2mg modified-release tablets has moved from a Category C item to a Category M item. The reimbursement price has dropped from £15.39 to £10.38 – again take care when purchasing as huge variations in purchase price.
From 1st March, there was a new addition to the Drug Tariff – Part 8D
Titled – Arrangements for Payments for Specials and Imported Unlicensed Medicines to be Paid Relative to an Identified Pack Size.
From 1st March the English and Welsh Drug Tariff now has the new section – Part 8D. Part 8D sets out payments for specials (mainly tablets and capsules) to be paid relative to a commonly identified pack size. 47 items have been added so far and the reimbursement price will be a fixed price. Dispensing doctors should note that the OOP endorsement is XP£20 –which is the same as the endorsement for part 8B specials.
Specials currently listed in Part VIIIB of the Tariff are restricted to manufactured non-solid dosage forms (for example liquids, creams, ointments and lotions etc) which, except for products classed as special containers, are reimbursed based on a price per unit above a minimum quantity. In comparison, majority of the specials listed in Part VIIID will be unlicensed medicines (mainly unlicensed tablets and capsules), with reimbursement prices calculated relative to commonly identified pack sizes. The pack size listings are to support Broken Bulk claims which will be permitted for specials (except those classed as special containers) listed in Part VIIID from March 2022. Please note: Broken Bulk CANNOT be claimed for any specials listed in Part VIIIB of the Tariff or for any non-Tariff special.
Below is a link to the PSNC briefing paper which explains Part 8D in more detail.
https://psnc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/PSNC-Briefing-005.22-Part-VIIID-Briefing-2.pdf
Reference PSNC