Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health if a medical card holder can purchase a branded drug over a generic drug and pay the difference in the cost of the branded drug to the pharmacy for example pay the two euro difference of the cost of the drug to the pharmacy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51058/12]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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The Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012 provides for the introduction of a system of generic substitution and reference pricing. Generic substitution allows pharmacists to substitute a cheaper generic equivalent, at the patient’s request, when a more expensive product has been prescribed. Reference pricing involves setting a common reimbursement amount for selected groups of medicines, which will be done by the HSE. Only the reference price is reimbursed by the State. When this Bill is enacted and commenced eligible patients will not be required to pay any additional costs for medicines priced at or below the reference price. However, if a patient chooses a particular brand that is more expensive than the reference price they will have to pay the difference between the brand price and the reference price to the pharmacy. Reference pricing coupled with generic substitution provides patients with an incentive to opt for the cheapest available product, but does not impose any unavoidable additional costs on patients.