Exempt medicines from VAT, lawmaker urges government
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Imee Marcos on Wednesday called on the government to go the extra mile in lowering the prices of medicines by exempting its sale and importation from value-added tax (VAT).
Marcos, chairman of the Senate Economic Affairs Committee, issued the statement a day after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a price ceiling on over 100 medicines through Executive Order (EO) No. 104.
She said exempting the sale and importation of medicines from VAT could further reduce the maximum retail and wholesale prices of selected medicines.
The senator pointed out that the 56 percent average discount seen in the EO’s regulation of medicine prices could be larger because pharmaceutical companies themselves have already said they could afford price reductions of up to 75 percent even before the order was signed.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Marcos said more than half of the P413 billion Filipinos spent on health services in 2018 went to pharmaceutical companies.
She added that Department of Health (DOH) estimates pegged the present cost of branded drugs at as much as 22 times higher than in other countries, especially in private hospitals and pharmacies.
Marcos said that amid the “financial and logistical problems hounding” the government’s Universal Health Care Program, lowering the prices of medicine is the “quickest way to help the sick.”
“Matagal pa bago maisaayos at mapalawak ang PhilHealth…Pero kung maibaba pa natin ang presyo ng gamot, agad-agad tayo makakatulong sa mga may sakit,” she said.
(It will take time before we make PhilHealth coverage better and broader…But if we can lower the prices of medicine we can immediately extend help to those who need it).
“Ngayong taon na magkakabisa ang Universal Health Care Law, kaya talagang kailangan na ng murang gamot,” she added.
(The Universal Health Care Law will be implemented this year, that’s why we really need cheaper medicine).
