The legislative framework
In accordance with the legislative norms of the Russian Federation, the state has taken measures to ensure compensation for costs when purchasing medications intended for rehabilitation in case of illness for a privileged category of persons.
In this option, you need to have a prescription from your doctor to purchase medications. The amount of compensation for preferential medicines varies and depends on the category of beneficiaries and their employment, which is regulated by the Federal Law on the Monetization of Benefits No. 122.
The general set of legislative norms regulating the procedure for issuing preferential medications includes Law No. 178 of 2015, which reflects the services that beneficiaries have the right to refuse - for example, free medicines or free travel in public vehicles. To do this, you must submit a request for refusal before October 1 of the current year. The application will be satisfied next year, through monetary compensation for the service.
The government has set a compensation limit that cannot be exceeded. Only the attending physician can prescribe a medication from the preferential list to a patient.
For pensioners in the medical field, the state has provided the following privileges:
- Persons who have reached retirement age and do not have a disability have the right to apply for a 50% discount on the cost of medications specified in the preferential list.
- According to the order of the Ministry of Health, pensioners have the right to undergo (once every 3 years) a full medical examination at the clinic at their place of residence.
- A pensioner has the right to get a flu vaccination free of charge.
- If a pensioner wishes to replace medications with monetary compensation, he will need to send a request to the Pension Fund office. A pensioner can receive such compensation twice a year.
The amount of monetary compensation for refusal of medications is set fixed and equal to 807.94 rubles.
As an additional privilege, a number of categories of pensioners have the right to refuse sanatorium-resort treatment, with financial compensation in the amount of 124.99 rubles.
The current list of medications in 2021 for the preferential contingent at the federal level and the rules for purchasing medications are approved by Government Order No. 2738-r, issued in December 2021. This list is reviewed annually and, therefore, in December 2021 the list of free medications for 2021
For more detailed information about benefits for pensioners, you are invited to watch the video
Benefits for medicines for pensioners
Citizens receiving pension subsidies are considered one of the most vulnerable categories of Russians. The state provides pensioners with different types of benefits at the federal and regional levels:
- housing;
- tax;
- for payment of housing and communal services;
- social;
- medical;
- natural;
- monetary.
Pensioners can receive an established set of social services (hereinafter referred to as SSS), which includes compensation for medications. At the legislative level, a list of medications has been established for which you can receive compensation under compulsory health insurance (CHI). Working pensioners can apply for a deduction when paying personal income tax at the tax office after purchasing medicines.
To find out what benefits and compensation a needy citizen is entitled to from regional authorities, you need to contact the local branch of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation (hereinafter referred to as the PF of the Russian Federation).
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Who is entitled to
The list of beneficiaries who can receive free medicines or enjoy discounts is extensive. The state provides compensation for purchased medicines to the following citizens:
- disabled people and veterans of the Great Patriotic War;
- people injured while participating in various military conflicts;
- individuals involved in the elimination of man-made accidents and disasters associated with exposure to radioactive substances;
- repressed Russians;
- heroes of Russia and the USSR;
- citizens with disabilities of groups 1 and 2, including from childhood;
- individuals belonging to the category of regional beneficiaries entitled to reimbursement of funds spent on treatment;
- Russians suffering from serious illnesses (hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, diabetes mellitus, cystic fibrosis, Gaucher disease, other ailments for which free medications are provided).
Conditions of receipt
There are the following grounds for providing compensation:
- the presence of an illness for which you can issue a refund for medicines through the tax service or the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation;
- a prescription for the required drug from a doctor from a municipal clinic in the prescribed form, in two copies;
- availability of documents proving the pensioner’s right to receive free medications.
Who is entitled to free medicines?
Beneficiaries who have received the right to a preferential prescription can be divided into 2 categories:
- "Honored Beneficiaries"
- Persons who receive support for illness.
The category of “deserved beneficiaries” includes:
- Participants of the Second World War and people who experienced war in childhood, under particularly difficult circumstances (home front workers, those under siege, those who visited concentration camps).
- Persons participating in military operations carried out by the army during peacetime (Afghanistan, Chechnya, other local military conflicts), as well as members of their families.
- Persons who received radiation exposure during the liquidation of accidents at nuclear facilities or located in contaminated areas (Chernobyl, Semipalatinsk).
- Citizens of the Russian Federation who have been awarded state badges of the highest degree (Order of Glory, title of Hero).
- Sparsely populated peoples of the northern regions of the Russian Federation.
Note. Medications included in the list for free distribution in pharmacies belong to the group of vitally needed medications. At the same time, in addition to medications, the preferential list includes some medical equipment (for example, urine or colostomy bags) and dentures.
What medications can I get?
In addition to the list of free medicines approved by the Government of the Russian Federation, pensioners can count on preferential medications if they suffer from the following diseases:
- Gaucher's disease.
- Hemophilia.
- Pituitary dwarfism.
- Myeloid leukemia.
- Cystic fibrosis.
- Multiple sclerosis.
- Immunosuppression – after organ transplantation.
Citizens with diabetes are also entitled to claim free medications.
Regardless of category, a citizen, in order to purchase preferential medications, is required to present to the pharmacist a prescription that corresponds to the established sample, signed by the doctor and stamped by the head of the clinic.
List of medications that can be reimbursed in 2021
Often, pensioners do not know what medications are given to pensioners free of charge.
To do this, you need to follow government regulations. Every year, in December, the Government reviews the list of free medications, with approval for use next year. Thus, the list of free medications for 2021 was approved by Government Decision No. 2738-r, issued in December 2021. Thus, for 2021 such a list will be approved in December 2021. After reviewing this list, pensioners will be able to claim financial compensation for purchased medications in pharmacies. In this case, the conversation is about medications prescribed by the attending doctor.
These include the following groups of medications:
- Analgesics.
- Anticholinesterase medications.
- Hormones for the treatment of the thyroid gland.
- For diabetics.
- To prevent infections.
- For kidney health.
- For blood clotting.
- Antihistamine type medications.
- Ophthalmic medications
- Medicines for the gastrointestinal tract.
- Drugs for the treatment of asthma.
- Antitumor.
- Antiepileptic drugs.
- Psychoanaleptics.
- Psycholeptics.
- Cardiovascular drugs.
- Strengthening bone tissue.
The list of free drugs is reviewed annually and the list is constantly expanding due to the release of new drugs. New medications with a predominance of hormonal, anticancer drugs, and antidepressants may appear on the revised list. Due to the rise in prices of some groups of medicines, the state is constantly increasing the budget items allocated for their purchase.
Payment amount
Pensioners who do not have disabilities have the right to take advantage of a 50% discount when purchasing medications prescribed by a doctor.
Once every 3 years, senior citizens aged 60 years and above can be examined free of charge in clinics.
In addition, pensioners can contact their local doctor for a free annual flu vaccination.
Pensioners and people near retirement age who work in hazardous jobs may qualify for preferential medications. This same category of beneficiaries also includes numerous families, children under 3 years of age and children kept in single-parent families.
Thanks to the program for reimbursement of costs for medicines, all beneficiaries living in the Russian Federation are partially reimbursed for medicines purchased with personal funds. Compensation is provided subject to the provision of relevant materials:
- Checks and other receipts certifying the fact of purchase of the medicine according to the issued prescription.
- Prescriptions for all medications. The form for filling out the prescription must correspond to form 107/у.
- A certificate showing the amount of pension payments.
Also, pensioners of the Russian Federation can apply for a discounted voucher to a sanatorium or resort.
What payments are pensioners entitled to in addition to the monthly pension?
- Receiving medications from a state pharmacy. Unfortunately, in 2021, not all medications appear on the free list, and state pharmacies are only available in large cities.
- Participation in the queue for free vouchers to a sanatorium is based on disability confirmed by documents. If a disabled person has the 1st group of disability or has been disabled since childhood, then exactly the same free accompanying voucher is issued for another 1 family member.
- Free travel to the place of treatment and home by train.
- If a pensioner has special services to Russia, he is entitled to a cash payment, and on a monthly basis.
- A set of free services that can be used by certain groups of elderly people was created to provide social support to the poor.
- A monthly material bonus issued regardless of your region of residence.
- Social supplement to pension provision. Valid if the principal amount is below the subsistence level fixed in the region or Russia as a whole.
- Additional payment related to the special conditions of professional work at the enterprise.
- If a disabled, non-working citizen lives in the family, which is confirmed by official documents.
- Funeral benefits for a deceased pensioner to his close relatives.
- Maternity capital issued to parents at the birth or adoption of a 2nd or 3rd child in order to create a favorable environment for raising young Russians and overcoming the demographic crisis in Russia.
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Where to apply for compensation for medicines for pensioners in 2021?
Legislative norms provide pensioners of the Russian Federation with the right to obtain compensation for funds spent on the purchase of preferential medications.
However, it must be borne in mind that benefits for medications are not issued automatically.
To compensate for the costs of medications, a pensioner must write a petition for financial reimbursement of costs and send it to the state. structures responsible for this area of work.
The structures responsible for compensation for purchased medicines include the Pension Fund and the Tax Inspectorate.
To obtain privileges for medications, non-working pensioners are required to submit an application to the local branch of the Pension Fund. A pensioner can apply either personally or using authorized persons.
Working pensioners from whom taxes are collected can apply for a tax deduction for medicines. To do this, you need to send a petition to the tax authorities, with the necessary documents attached and a completed declaration for the previous year in form 3-NDFL.
How to return money for medicines through the Social Insurance Fund
The legislative norms of the Russian Federation have adopted mandatory insurance for individuals against injuries received during work.
Compensation for such an event is carried out in the following ways:
- Arrival at medical institutions to provide assistance in the form of monetary compensation for the purchase of medications.
- The exact amount of compensation is regulated by Russian Federation regulations. The maximum amount of compensation in each region is determined independently. However, the average amount of compensation in the Russian Federation is 25,000 rubles.
- Payments are made through the Pension Fund.
- Only disabled people have the right to submit an application to the Social Insurance Fund for the assignment of a social deduction, and then only for the purchase of medications used for rehabilitation.
To purchase compensation through the Social Insurance Fund, you must send the following documents along with your application:
- Policy.
- Recipes from the doctor.
- Receipts certifying the purchase of the medicine.
- A medical card confirming the need for treatment.
All documents are registered at the local FSS branch. The response must be sent no later than 30 days.
Note. Payment of compensation is carried out to a bank card, according to the details displayed in the submitted application.
How to return money for medicines through the Federal Tax Service
Every citizen who pays tax on their income has the right to submit a petition to the Federal Tax Service for a tax deduction when purchasing preferential medications.
To assign a tax deduction, the following requirements must be met:
- Purchased medications must be on the list approved by the Government Decree.
- The medicine must be prescribed for the rehabilitation of the applicant or his relative.
- The medical institution that provided the treatment must have a license to provide such services.
- Provide a declaration for last year.
- Fill out a special form, attaching sales receipts, prescriptions, a photocopy of a medical record and a doctor’s medical report.
Federal Tax Service employees are required to review the materials received and, within 2 months from the date of their registration, inform the applicant about the decision made.
After the application is granted, the money must be credited to the applicant’s account within one month.
The largest amount of tax deduction can be up to 120,000 rubles, but during the year you cannot receive more than 15,600 rubles.
Going beyond 13% of a person’s income is allowed only with expensive rehabilitation.
Pension supplements: what you need to know about your rights if you are recognized as a group 3 disabled person
The appointment date, that is, the time from which the additional payment is paid, will be the one when the PF specialist registers the application of the disabled person, that is, the day of submission. This is an important point - if the regulations for assigning the basic pension allow you to go back by date and assign it from the day the medical and social examination recognized disability, then in the case of EDV you need to rush to submit an application on the same day when the ITU certificate is received so as not to suffer financially.
If there is work experience, then an insurance (labor) pension is assigned, taking into account the pension capital (experience + salary) formed at the beginning of 2002 and insurance contributions located on the personal account of the disabled person. If the labor pension in monetary terms is less than the social one, then a social pension that is more beneficial for the disabled person is assigned.
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The procedure for obtaining preferential medications at the pharmacy
Before going to the pharmacy kiosk to purchase medicine, you will need to obtain a prescription from a medical institution.
To do this, you need to provide the doctor with a certificate received from the PRF, indicating your right to the benefit. The recipe is filled in on a special basis. form (form 107/u-NP or form 148-1/u-88), signed by the attending physician and stamped by the head of the clinic, indicating the validity period of the prescription.
Note. If the medical institution does not have the required form, and the medications are needed urgently, you can buy them at your own expense and later, when the doctor has the required form, write a prescription and return the money using the receipt provided.
Medications must be purchased only from pharmacies participating in government programs. Information about such pharmacies can be found at the medical institution. When purchasing a medicine, the pharmacist must provide, in addition to the prescription, a passport and a medical card certifying the diagnosis.
If, due to poor health, the patient is not able to come to the pharmacy on his own, any person who provides the necessary documents can receive medicines for him.
If the required medication or its equivalent is not available in the pharmacy, the patient must order it and provide it to the patient within 10 days. At the same time, the doctor, if necessary, is obliged to extend the validity period of the prescription.
If a prescription is lost, the doctor must re-write it. At the same time, this event is displayed in the patient’s medical record, and a notification about the loss of the prescription is sent to the pharmacy.
There are no restrictions on the number of medications or the price of prescribed medications. They are prescribed by the doctor based on the diagnosis.