Reimbursement and prices

A lot of medicines prescribed by doctors in Denmark are reimbursed.

The reimbursement is deducted from the price automatically when you buy medicine at the pharmacy. The more medicine you buy, the higher the reimbursement amount will be. The actual amount reimbursed appears from the receipt you get when you buy medicines at the pharmacy.

How much reimbursement do I get?

Whenever you buy a reimbursable medicine, it is automatically reported to the Central Reimbursement Register (CTR). As your CTR balance grows within a reimbursement period of one year, the more reimbursement you will receive.

You can read more about reimbursement periods and reimbursement thresholds here: Reimbursement thresholds.

Reimbursement is available for the cheapest medicine

There could be more than one manufacturer of the same type of medicine with the same active substances. The manufacturers compete on price. The reimbursement is always calculated based on the price of the currently cheapest product, and the pharmacy must always make sure to offer you the cheapest one. If you decide to buy a medicine that is not currently the cheapest one, you must pay the price difference between the currently cheapest version and the medicine of your choice.

You can read more about this here: Reimbursement prices.

General reimbursement

General reimbursement is a type of reimbursement that is applied automatically to a lot of medicines. Anyone who buys medicines in this category receives reimbursement at the pharmacy.

In some cases, you may only be eligible for reimbursement if you have a specific disease or if you belong to a certain group of persons – this is called conditional reimbursement. The Danish Medicines Agency decides which diseases and groups of persons the reimbursement is to apply to (the reimbursement condition). The doctor who treats you will assess if you are covered by the reimbursement condition and in the affirmative adds “reimbursement” on the prescription.

Individual reimbursement

Individual reimbursement is a type of reimbursement that relates to an individual patient. This may be relevant for you if the medicine you take is not eligible for general reimbursement or if you cannot use the cheapest medicine. Your doctor must apply to the Danish Medicines Agency for individual reimbursement on your behalf. Your financial situation is not included in our assessment, and we do not have access to any other information than the details provided to us by your doctor.

Some doctors charge a fee when they apply for individual reimbursement. Doctors are free to decide whether to charge a fee and determines the size of such fee. Ask your doctor if you are unsure.

• Single reimbursement

  If you take medicine that is not eligible for general reimbursement, your doctor can apply for single reimbursement. Single reimbursement means that the medicine which is granted reimbursement is eligible for reimbursement for you personally. The term “single” means that the medicine applies to a certain (single) medicine; it does not mean that you only get it once.

  Here you can read more about Single reimbursement.

  It takes around 14 days for the Danish Medicines Agency to review an application for single reimbursement.

• Increased reimbursement

  If you use a more expensive medicine in a reimbursement group, you must pay the difference between the cheapest and the more expensive medicine. If there are exceptional reasons why you cannot be treated with the cheapest medicine, for example if you are allergic to one of the medicine’s additives, or if it gives you serious side effects, your doctor can apply for increased reimbursement on your behalf.

  Here you can read more about Increased reimbursement.

  It takes around 14 days for the Danish Medicines Agency to review an application for increased reimbursement.

• Reimbursement for the terminally ill

  Terminally ill people who choose to spend their final days in their own home or in a hospice can have their expenses for all medication reimbursed when prescribed by a doctor.

  Here you can read more about Reimbursement for the terminally ill.

  It takes one to two working days for the Danish Medicines Agency to review an application for reimbursement for the terminally ill.

The reply will be in your e-Boks

If the doctor’s application for individual reimbursement is approved, we will send the approval to your e-Boks. In case you have been exempted from receiving information in e-Boks, the approval will be sent by ordinary post.

The pharmacy is informed directly by the Danish Medicines Agency.

The status of your case

If you haven’t received a reply in you e-Boks within 14 days, it could be due to the following:

We need more information from your doctor before we can decide whether to grant you reimbursement. The review is paused until we hear from your doctor.

We need to consult our medical secretary or the Reimbursement Committee.

We have turned down the application and sent a reply to your doctor.

If we turn down an application, we always send the reply to your doctor, the reason being that the doctor can then take responsibility for your future treatment and contact you.

If you find it is taking too long for us to get back to you, we advise you to contact the doctor who submitted the application to get a status.

Social reimbursement from the municipality

We advise you to contact the social services in your municipality to hear about your options for receiving additional reimbursement for medicines, food supplements and other aids.

You can find more information at www.borger.dk.