«We inform you that for the year 2024 the applications for granting the contribution to rural pharmacies provided for by art. 21, c. 2, LR n. 2/2016 may be presented by interested parties by 1 July 2024″. This is what the hospital care sector has announced in the drug and medical device governance area within the Emilia-Romagna region. In the circular – addressed to the trade associations of public and private pharmacies and to the professional associations of pharmacists in the region, signed by the manager Elisa Sangiorgi – we read that the «regional law provides that the disbursement of contributions is made through the local health authorities that treat also the related investigation”.
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Turnover and amount of contributions
Going into specifics, the Emilia-Romagna Region specified that «the implementing provisions of the art. 21, paragraph 2, of Regional Law 2/2016 remain those already applied in previous years, approved with Regional Council resolution no. 494 of 1 April 2019″. In particular, the regional law “establishes at 325 thousand euros the maximum turnover ceiling for VAT purposes that rural pharmacies must have declared in the previous year to access the regional contribution”. The Region “identifies four turnover bands which correspond to contributions of amounts between 12,500 and 5 thousand euros”. In more detail, as stated in the Notice, for pharmacy business volumes of up to 200 thousand euros the contribution is 12,500 euros. From 200,000.01 up to 250 thousand euros the contribution is 10 thousand euros. From 250,000.01 up to 300 thousand euros the contribution is 7 thousand and 500 euros. Finally, from 300,000.01 up to 325 thousand euros the contribution is 5 thousand euros.
Regional ranking for the assignment of contributions
Taking into consideration the methods of assigning the contribution, the Region explained that «the competent regional manager, on the basis of the investigations carried out by the local health authorities, proceeds to the formal admission of the applications and approves the regional ranking for the assignment of the contributions, drawn up in increasing order of overall turnover for VAT purposes”. Therefore “in the case of identical turnover for VAT purposes, the pharmacy located in the municipality with the smallest population on 1 January 2023 (Istat value) precedes in the ranking”. Furthermore, “the contribution is granted following the order of the pharmacy owners in the ranking, until the resources allocated in the budget, equal to 400 thousand euros, are exhausted”.
Pharmaceutical branches or dispensaries
The Region then specified that «if, based on the applications received, the sum of the contributions that can be granted according to the table is less than the total resources available in the financial year of reference, the residual resources are distributed in favor of rural pharmacies with a volume of business declared for VAT purposes up to 250 thousand euros, according to a criterion of proportionality with respect to the contribution due pursuant to the same table. In the event that the owner of the rural pharmacy also manages branches or pharmaceutical dispensaries, the turnover of the latter for VAT purposes contributes to the formation of the overall turnover for the determination of the contribution”. As for the methods of sending the request, as explained by the Region «the application form completed in all its parts and complete with the relevant attachments, in PDF format, must be sent exclusively by certified electronic mail (PEC) to the certified email address of the Reference local health authority”. Please refer to the regional portal http://salute.regione.emilia-romagna.it/farmaci/farmacie-rurali for the full Notice and related attachments.
