July Category M strips 19p per item (av) from reimbursement
The Department of Health and Social Care has released the July Category M adjustment.
According to PSNC, which negotiates Category M prices with the DHSC, the July Category M prices reflect a reduction in margin levels of approximately £34 million per quarter. The £15m per quarter uplift that has been in place for the last three quarters to mitigate against the impact of Brexit will also be removed from the July Drug Tariff.
As such the total quarterly impact on margin will be a £49m reduction, or approximately -19 pence per item on average. The underlying effect of market price movements in the reference period Jan – Mar 2021 will also be reflected in the July Drug Tariff.
In summary, there are now 660 products in Category M. In the adjustment:
Reference DDA website
Additions to Part 2
5 items have been added to Part 2 of the July Drug Tariff. Ones which I think you may find of interest are:
Misoprostol 400microgram tablets, Lenalidomide 25mg capsules and Revlimid 25mg capsules.
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
8 items have been added to Part 8a of the July Drug Tariff. Ones that I think you may find of interest are:
Aspirin 325mg / Caffeine 15mg tablets have gone into the Drug Tariff with pack sizes 12 and 16 – the reimbursement price is based on Anadin Original.
Amoxicillin 1g powder for solution for injection vials has gone into the July Drug Tariff based on Wockhardt UK Ltd.
Co-dydramol 20mg/500mg tablets, pack size 56 has been added to the July Drug Tariff. Pack size 112 was already listed. Please note that the reimbursement price is based on Remedeine
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.
Additions to Part 16 – Notes on Charges
LIST OF CONTRACEPTIVE DRUGS TO BE DISPENSED FREE OF CHARGE
Deletions to Part 8A
4 items have been removed from the July Drug Tariff, listed below are items which you may find of interest:
Ranitidine 150mg/5ml oral solution sugar free- pack size 150ml. This has been removed from the July Drug Tariff as it was discontinued in July 20.
Sodium fluoride 1.1mg chewable tablets sugar free and the 2.2mg chewable tablets sugar free – more commonly known as Fluor-a-day have both been removed from the July Drug Tariff. These were both discontinued in February 2021.
Tinidazole 500mg tablets, which was more commonly known as Fasigyn was also discontinued in February 2021 and has been removed from the July Drug Tariff
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
30 items are listed in ‘Other Changes’ – ones which I think you will find of interest are:
Tamsulosin 400microgram modified-release capsules have moved from a category A to a category M and the reimbursement has dropped from £3.24 to £1.47.
Meningococcal oligosaccharide A, C, W135 and Y vaccine powder and solvent for solution for injection 0.5ml vials has remained as a category C with the reimbursement price based on Menveo but now needs to read as:
Meningococcal polysaccharide A, C, W135 and Y vaccine powder and solvent for solution for injection 0.5ml pre-filled syringes is much the same. The reimbursement hasn’t changed and is still based on Nimenrix but the prescription now needs to read as:
Ivabradine 2.5mg tablets was sitting in the drug tariff as a category A with the reimbursement price at £93.56 has now dropped to Category M with the reimbursement at £40.96. Take care when ordering this one as some wholesalers are selling the generic over £50.00+