Greek pharmacies, who are months – or years – behind in receiving government payments for state insurance programs are in such bad shape that nearly 40 percent, or some 4,000, are on the verge of closing, according to a survey done for the Panhellenic Pharmacists’ Association (PFS).
Almost 96 percent of pharmacists said they had been affected by the economic crisis which has seen constant refusals by the drug store owners to accept the subsidy programs, with the government making intermittent payments before stopping them, leading to more strikes.
The opinion poll was carried out by Marc on a sample of 502 pharmacists. Nine in 10 respondents said that the state has delayed paying them, while eight in 10 said they are owed money by customers.
The unpaid bills amount to hundreds of millions of euros and the country’s crushing economic crisis has made the government unable to keep supplies coming of some essential drugs, including cancer treatment medications that cost thousands of dollars a month, which pharmacists said they can’t afford to buy without the unpaid arrears.
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