Argentina makes 170 prescription drugs, supplements available free of charge to retirees
Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced that 170 essential prescription drugs and supplements will be made available free of charge for the nation's 5.2 million retirees covered by PAMI, Argentina's version of Medicare.
The program, known as "Live Better," covers a total of around 3,600 brand names and generics - a move designed to promote competition in a country where medicine prices rose 457% between late 2015 and late 2019.
Pharmaceutical inflation far outstripped overall inflation in the same period (300%) or wage growth (210%). The new benefit will add an estimated 10 to 15% to the median retiree's net pension, currently $244 a month.
'Live Better' follows the revival of the REMEDIAR medical subsidy program announced by Health Minister Ginés González García on February 14.
The program is budgeted to distribute 16 million units of 50 basic medicines to the nation's 8,500 clinics and hospitals this year, many of which had reported medicine shortages - raising concern amid the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.
REMEDIAR had been discontinued by Fernández's predecessor, Mauricio Macri, in 2017. Amid the most serious debt and economic crisis in two decades, last October he became the first Argentine president to lose a re-election bid.
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The director of PAMI (Argentina's Medicare), Luana Volnovich, speaks about the recently-announced 'Live Better' prescription drug subsidy as President Alberto Fernández (center left, with tie) looks on.
The program, which makes 170 prescription drugs and supplements available free of charge to retirees, is part of a broader policy of addressing medical shortages and affordability issues in the recession-hit nation.
