It is important to keep medicines readily available, especially when it comes to antimicrobial medicines. If a patient has to switch antimicrobial treatment or receives a suboptimal treatment, it increases the chance that microorganisms become resistant to antimicrobial medicines. Microorganisms (such as bacteria and fungi) then become insensitive to treatment. This, known as antimicrobial resistance, poses a risk to the entire society.

The experiment exempts antimicrobial medicines (a total of about 400) from the reimbursement limits that apply in the medicines reimbursement system (GVS). The GVS is structured so that interchangeable medicines have a reimbursement limit. This helps keep medicines affordable. However, reimbursement limits can also present challenges regarding availability. It can lead to situations where a patient is asked to pay extra if they need a specific medicine for medical reasons.

With the removal of the price pressure from the GVS reimbursement limits for these medicines, it is expected that the availability of these medicines will improve. Furthermore, lifting the GVS reimbursement limits for this group of medicines ensures that patients who need these medicines will no longer have to pay out-of-pocket for their medications. This means they will not have to switch to a suboptimal medicine for their situation due to financial reasons.