Luxembourg
Luxembourg is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy. There are 3 official languages: Luxembourgish, French and German.
The healthcare system of Luxembourg is seen as the best in the world. Healthcare expenditure per capita is among the highest in Europe.
Medicines are reimbursed up to 80%, but medicines for the treatment of long-term illnesses or for treatment in a hospital are fully reimbursed. Of some non-essential pharmaceutical products (such as vitamin preparations), only 40% is reimbursed.
Healthcare budget
$6 billion
Inhabitants
0.7 million
GDP per capita
$120.110
Currency
Euro
World Ranking
GDP 65th
Luxembourg Healthcare
Health spending in Luxembourg is the highest among EU countries. In 2015, Luxembourg spent EUR 5 090 per head on health care, compared to the EU average of EUR 2 797. This equals 6,0% of GDP. Some 82% of health spending is publicly funded and out-of-pocket spending is one of the lowest in the EU.
Luxembourg’s health system is characterized by a compulsory social insurance system relying on substantial inputs from the central budget. The single-payer fund (Caisse National de Santé – National Health Insurance, CNS) is responsible for two schemes: health care insurance and sickness leave insurance. On top of this, CNS is also responsible for the financing of long-term care insurance.
Luxembourg pharmaceutical Environment
The country has by far the lowest penetration of generic drugs in the EU (11% of the total volume of reimbursed pharmaceuticals versus 49% in Member States with available data in 2015). To increase the use of generics, the Ministry of Health introduced a generic substitution policy in late 2014.
Two pharmacotherapeutic groups for approximately 400 medical products (accounting for nearly 10% of the total expenses of the CNS) were specified eligible for generic substitution. This new policy led to a modest increase (4%) of the reimbursement of generics between 2013 and 2016.
Today’s challenges
Despite stable funding, there are concerns over growing costs, with efforts to improve efficiency. Governance arrangements seem to respond to health challenges appropriately yet they fail to carry out systematic performance assessment.
The Luxembourg experts
Gert van Alewijk and Bauke Buwalda
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Services
Sales and Marketing
Entering the European market is not easy. 44 countries with different healthcare systems. What is your strategy? Apart from the Big-5, what do you do with the other 28 countries? We offer a solution for 28 countries. Sales and marketing is our core business.
Learn moreDistribution
We manage, through our logistic partners with their regional warehouses, the distribution to our region (28 countries). They have the capability to handle the most demanding of specialized product order management, storage, handling and distribution requirements.
Learn moreEarly Market Research
You know that market research is critical. It provides customer insights, competitive intelligence, behavioural tendencies, and product positioning. And market research increasingly is becoming an important component for linking R&D and marketing teams.
Learn moreMarket Access
Achieving reimbursement and getting the right price are the 2 most important drivers for a successful launch of an innovative pharmaceuticals in our part of Europe. Health Authorities in any European country decide individually based on their local regulations, policies, framework, social values and available health care budget.
Learn moreMarket Authorisation
Unlike other regions, in the EU a number of options is available to obtain a marketing authorisation. Centralised at the European Medicines Agency in Amsterdam or decentralised with the individual competent authorities of the member states, each marketing authorisation application procedure has its pros and cons. In the case of Switzerland, it has its own regulatory authority, Swissmedic, and processes.
Learn morePharmacovigilance
Pharmacovigilance is the science and activities relating to the detection, assessment, understanding and prevention of adverse effects or any other medicine-related problem.
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