The sale of medicines by PAMI suffered a sharp drop of 13% between January and September 2024. It happened within the framework of the adjustment suffered by the salaries of older adults during the period and the Government’s decision to remove 100% coverage for a wide variety of pharmaceutical products.
According to data provided by the National Institute of Social Services for Retirees and Pensioners, better known as PAMI, The most affected provinces were those in the northwith Catamarca (-18.6%), Tucumán (-18.3%) and Santiago del Estero (-17.3%) leading the way. The only jurisdiction that showed an improvement was Santa Cruz (+6.5%), while in other southern provinces, such as Chubut or Tierra del Fuego, the drop was limited.
Likewise, within the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA), a contraction above average was observed, both in the Federal Capital (-14.7%) as in the Province (-14.2%).
The negative variations occur, on the one hand, due to the loss of purchasing power that retirees suffered during this year. According to a report from the Argentine Institute of Fiscal Analysis (IARAF), The average annual income of a retiree who earns the minimum would end the year with a real cut of 15% compared to 2023and almost 30% compared to the last maximum recorded in 2017.
In addition, An older adult who earns an income equivalent to 3 minimum salaries would end 2024 with an annual loss of 19% against inflation and a decrease of 48% versus 2017.
It is worth noting that the deregulation of the pharmaceutical market carried out by the Government of Javier Milei led to sharp increases in drug prices, mainly in December 2023, when there was a 40% increase in this segment. The Center for Argentine Political Economy (CEPA) reflected that, between November of last year and November of this year, prices rose 210.7%, above general inflation, which would have been around 201.5%.
Meanwhile, The prices of medicines with PAMI coverage have since recorded an extraordinary accumulated inflation of 340.7% in the same period, well above both the average increase for the sector and the General Consumer Price Index (CPI).
It is worth remembering that Between June and August, 55 drug molecules that had 100% coverage were reduced. Additionally, the Government decided in recent weeks limit access to up to 5 medications only to retirees with up to 1.5 minimum retirements, who still must complete a procedure to obtain the benefit.
“The reduction of pharmacological molecules It meant that a third less medicines were offered compared to those that were distributed for free before Javier Milei’s administration. That is, the list of almost 3,000 covered medications (based on the 167 molecules that the Vivir Mejor plan included at the beginning of the year) was reduced to about 2,000, corresponding to the 109 molecules that are now covered,” CEPA elaborated in a report. .
Between August and November, strong price increases stood out, around 70%, in those medications that were excluded from the PAMI basket.
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Source: Ambito
