The program works for patients with cardiovascular disease, chronic lower respiratory disease, type II diabetes, type I diabetes, non-sugar diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, behavioral and psychiatric disorders, epilepsy, and for immunosuppressive therapy in post-surgery.
Patients who need outpatient care can get the medications covered by the program at no cost or with a small copayment.
The state reimbursement program covers more than 400 medicines against these diseases. The current list of medicines dispensed under the program is publicly available on the website of the National Health Service of Ukraine in the section “Drug Reimbursement Program” (https://nszu.gov.ua/).
To begin receiving such a medication, patients must apply:
- for treatment of cardiovascular diseases, bronchial asthma, type II diabetes mellitus – to their physician with whom the declaration is concluded or to any other primary care family physician;
- for treatment of mental and behavioral disorders – to a psychiatrist;
- epilepsy – to a psychiatrist or neurologist;
- An endocrinologist prescribes the insulin treatment plan and, accordingly, writes the first insulin prescription, and family physicians can write the next prescriptions according to the prescribed plan;
- In the case of non-sugar diabetes, the endocrinologist must write the treatment regimen and the first prescription; family physicians can also write the next prescriptions according to the prescribed plan.
- The doctor will write an electronic prescription, and a repeat prescription can already be received remotely if necessary (for example, if the patient has a chronic disease and requires constant intake of necessary medications) by decision of the family doctor. A paper prescription for such a group of drugs during a state of war is written by a doctor only if there is no access to the electronic health care system or due to power problems.
It should be recalled that in the spring all prescription drugs that patients buy at their own expense will be available by electronic prescription. In this case, the patient will be able to choose a more convenient format of the prescription (electronic or paper).
