Azerbaijan outlines first outpatient medicines reimbursement model

Azerbaijan has set out the planned dispensing and patient-payment model for the first phase of outpatient medicine coverage under compulsory health insurance.

The State Health Insurance and Expertise Agency (Dövlət Tibbi Sığorta və Ekspertiza Agentliyi) said the initial phase will cover medicines for arterial hypertension. Twenty-eight active substances have been selected, corresponding to 76 medicine presentations when different strengths and combinations are included. The final positive list has not yet been approved.

Outpatient prescription medicines have historically sat largely outside Azerbaijan’s standard compulsory-insurance benefit package. Legislative changes adopted in 2024 and implementing rules issued in October 2025 created a positive-list system and a ‘conditional reimbursement amount’ payable by the insurer for equivalent medicines.

The agency now plans to ensure that patients can obtain at least one alternative for each covered medicine without additional payment. Medicines will be prescribed according to active substance, strength and pharmaceutical form. Where a patient chooses a more expensive alternative, they will pay the difference between its price and the reimbursement amount.

The hypertension scope itself was announced by the agency’s then chairman in January, including the 28 active substances and 76 presentations. The September update adds detail on how patient choice and cost-sharing are intended to work.

Implementation is not yet complete. The agency says electronic prescribing, medicine tracking, pharmacy systems and other digital infrastructure are being integrated and tested before pharmacies and healthcare providers enter the scheme. No final launch date has been announced.

Source: BAKU.WS
Link: Bu dərmanlar sığorta ilə veriləcək - RƏSMİ (These medicines will be provided through insurance – official)
Date: 9 September 2026

Source: BAKU.WS
Link: Apteklərdən pulsuz dərmanları nə vaxtdan ala biləcəyik? - RƏSMİ (When will we be able to obtain free medicines from pharmacies? – official)
Date: 9 September 2026

Source: Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Link: “Pozitiv siyahıya daxil olan dərman vasitələrinin şərti kompensasiya məbləğinin hesablanması Qaydası”nın təsdiq edilməsi haqqında (Approval of the rules for calculating the conditional reimbursement amount for medicines included in the positive list)
Date: 23 October 2025