Review of Prescription Charges in Western Europe, North America and Australasia

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Appendix C: Glossary and conversion rates

Glossary

Co-insurance
Co-insurance, where a patient pays a fixed proportion of the total cost of their treatment.

Co-payment
Co-payments are the payments patients make towards their prescription medication, these can be fixed amounts (similar to the prescription charge in the UK) or a percentage of the cost of a medication, different types of drugs may attract a different percentages.

Co-payment cap
This is where there is a maximum that a patient will be charged for their prescription medication e.g. the prepayment certificates in the UK. This can be per month or per year.

Co-payment exemption
Co-payment exemptions are where certain groups do not have to pay towards their prescription medication e.g. pregnant women in the UK.

Deductible
Deductibles are where a patient pays a set amount of money towards their prescriptions, similar to an insurance excess.

Reduced co-payment
A reduced co-payment is where certain patients pay less towards their prescription medication e.g. people on low income.

The Conversion Rates 1 Used in Appendix A

Country

£1 buys, at date

Australia

A$2.35202, at 1 st January 2006

New Zealand

NZ$2.67284, at 1 st January 2005

Canada

Cn$2.30244, at 1 st January 2005

USA

$1.72384, at 1 st January 2006; $1.61140, at 1 st January 2003

Austria

ECU1.41995, at 1 st January 2004

Belgium

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Denmark

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Finland

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005; ECU1.41995, at 1 st January 2004

France

No amounts quoted

Germany

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Ireland

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Italy

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Luxembourg

No amounts quoted

Netherlands

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Portugal

No amounts quoted

Spain

ECU1.41423, at 1 st January 2005

Sweden

SEK12.75283, at 1 st January 2005

Page updated: Wednesday, February 08, 2006