Kosovo’s COVID-19 Patients Demand Reimbursement for Expensive Treatments Amid Lack of Support

High Medical Costs for COVID-19 Patients in Kosovo

During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients in Kosovo spent hundreds of euros on treatments. A medication called Remdesivir sold for prices as high as 800 euros. The Ministry of Health is asking for reimbursement for these expenses but states there is no reimbursement scheme for therapies.

In the early stages of the pandemic, Remdesivir was unavailable in Kosovo. Health Commission member Shemsedin Dreshaj explained that patients had to acquire this drug through various means. Initially, its price was around 800 euros but later dropped to approximately 75 euros.

Two years after the first cases emerged, Dreshaj urges the Ministry of Health to develop reimbursement mechanisms for families that faced high treatment costs. Many families have lost members to the virus, and Dreshaj believes it’s important to help ease their financial burdens.

Research by the Patient Rights Association indicates that infected patients incurred average treatment costs of 426 euros, with some spending as much as seven thousand euros. Mayor Besim Kodra noted that high drug prices have been a common complaint since the start of the pandemic. He also mentioned that some patients felt they had to pay additional fees for health services.

Kodra emphasizes the need for mechanisms to address healthcare costs, especially to prevent similar issues in the future. He argues that patients should be compensated for any harm suffered due to the lack of essential medications.

However, the Ministry of Health clarified that without public health insurance, there can be no reimbursement for individually purchased therapies. They stated that COVID-19 treatments have been provided through the ministry and donations.

In just six months of 2021, the National Audit Office reported that over 260,000 euros were spent on Remdesivir at the Infectious Disease Clinic.