Senior Citizens Medicine Discount Rules

BFAD Memorandum Circular No. 24, s. 1994 amends Memo Circular No. 4, s. 1994, specifically Rule V (D).
The Circular frames its discount mechanics in reference to Republic Act No. 7432 (the Senior Citizens Act).
The Circular implements requirements tied to the Generics Law, stating that only complete prescriptions complying with it shall be honored.

The Circular establishes that senior citizens are entitled to a minimum discount of 20% on medicines for personal use and personal needs.
The Circular requires documentary controls and recordkeeping to enable monitoring and control of discount availment.
The Circular limits discount privilege access to protect the benefit for the senior citizen, making it non-transferable and exclusive to the senior citizen.

A senior citizen is entitled to a minimum of twenty percent (20%) discount in the purchase of medicine for personal use and based on personal needs.
In buying medicines, the senior citizen or the senior citizen’s duly authorized representative must present the national identification card, the purchase slip booklet approved by the OSCA Chairman, and a doctor’s prescription for prescription drugs.
For non-prescription or over-the-counter drugs, the quantity purchased must be commensurate to the elderly person’s needs.
Discount privileges are limited so that they operate as a benefit of the senior citizen.

The Circular requires each individual senior citizen to have a purchase slip booklet to reflect the senior citizen’s record of availment of the discount privilege.
The purchase slip booklet becomes available through the local OSCA on a voluntary basis starting September 1994.
The Circular mandates that the use of the purchase slip booklet by senior citizens becomes mandatory beginning January 1, 1995.
The purchase slip booklet must be presented by the senior citizen (or authorized agent) to the drugstore, together with the senior citizen’s OSCA Identification Card.
Prescription content must include the usual details required in a doctor’s prescription, including the doctor’s name, the doctor’s PTR number, the patient’s name, the generic name of the medicine prescribed, and other required particulars.
Only complete prescriptions that fully comply with the Generics Law shall be honored.

As a general rule, a single dispensing must not be more than one (1) week supply.
When drugs are for chronic conditions requiring continuous use for more than a month, a maximum of one month supply may be dispensed at a time.
Chronic conditions specifically include: anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, anti-angina, anti-thyroid, anti-parkinsonism, anti-arthritis, anti-TB, anti-neoplastic, anti-psychotic, hormonal drugs for prolonged use, and dietary supplements.
The chronic condition exception applies when continuous use is for more than a month.

Whether the medicine is prescription or over-the-counter, the drug outlet must record the following in a special record book for Senior Citizens Discount provided under Republic Act No. 7432:
- the name, address, national I.D. number of the senior citizen;
- the generic name of the drug/medicine; and
- the number of units dispensed.
Drugstores are required to maintain only one special record book that is registered and subject to inspection by both the BFAD and BIR.
For partial filling, the drugstore pharmacist must:
- indicate the quantity partially filled in the special record book; and
- indicate the unfilled balance on the prescription.
The senior citizen must retain the partially filled prescription and present it later to complete the prescribed quantity.

Senior citizens who cannot afford the consultation fee of a private doctor must consult at a government health center/hospital.
Such consultations at a government health center/hospital allow senior citizens to obtain a prescription free of charge.

Drug outlets offering special discounted prices less than 20% of the regular retail prices of drugs may deduct the percentage discount of the Promotional Campaign from the total 20% discount required by Republic Act No. 7432.
The rule ensures that a total discount of 20% for senior citizens is still observed even when promotional discounts are present.

Senior citizens’ discount privileges are non-transferable.
Senior citizens’ discount privileges are limited and exclusive for the benefit of the senior citizen.

All drug outlets are enjoined to comply with the Circular’s rules, including:
- drugstores;
- hospital pharmacies (government or private); and
- retail outlets for non-prescription drugs.
FDROs are instructed to report non-compliance when evidence of commission or omission warrants reporting.

The Circular provides that its revised BFAD Implementing Rules and Regulations of RA 7432 supersede all previous circulars on the same subject matter.
The Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in a national newspaper.