Industry report: Germany spent less on drugs in 2011

A German trade group on Monday published a report showing that the country's statutory health insurance funds spent about 4% less on drugs in 2011 compared to 2010. The German Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (VFA) said 2011 drug expenditures were off about EUR 1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) to EUR 29 billion ($36.3 billion), despite an increase in the amount of drugs consumed during the year. VFA attributed the reductions in part to increased drug rebates. VFA also said that pharmaceuticals are the only area of coverage for the statutory health insurance funds in which expenditures have not steadily risen in the past years. The analysis was conducted by the IGES Institute on behalf of VFA. ...