Germany to pay more for child medicines amid supply shortage
BERLIN (AP) — The German government said Tuesday that it will allow health insurance companies to pay more for pediatric medications that are in short supply in the country. Germans have been scrambling to find basic drugs such as painkillers in recent weeks due to delivery bottlenecks and higher-than-usual demand. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said Tuesday that insurers will be allowed to pay 50% more than the legally set price for patent-free medicines. If such drugs aren’t available, they can fall back on more expensive branded drugs. Th prices insurers pay for generic drugs are capped in Germany are capped, making it a less attractive market for some pharmaceutical companies.