Funding for medicines: chronic and rare diseases, oncology and unregistered medicines

Which programme covers which medicine?

The table is based on the 2026 state healthcare programmes and official information. The range of beneficiaries, the list of medicines and the co-payment change every year, so check the current conditions with your family doctor or at the pharmacy.

The chronic disease medicines programme: who is eligible and how it works

The programme was launched in July 2017. Its aim is to make sure that beneficiaries receive long-term medicines regularly and without financial hardship. The main beneficiary groups are socially vulnerable families (according to official information, with a rating score of up to 100,000), people of pensionable age, persons with disabilities and, by diagnosis, patients with epilepsy or Parkinson's disease.

How you get the medicine

Since 2020, beneficiaries no longer need to register separately with the Social Service Agency. The process is as follows: the family doctor or a specialist writes an electronic prescription, and the patient collects the medicine from a pharmacy taking part in the programme. So the most important step is the visit to the doctor: if the prescription is not issued electronically, the pharmacy cannot apply the discount.

How much you pay

The co-payment depends on the beneficiary group: socially vulnerable people pay a token share of the price, while other groups get a discount. The exact amount is set by the current year's programme and has changed over time, so you will find it out at the pharmacy when the prescription is processed. If the medicine you have been prescribed is not on the programme's list, ask your doctor whether the list includes the same active substance under another brand name.

Practical tips at the pharmacy

Not every pharmacy takes part in the programme, so as soon as you get the prescription, ask your doctor or the hotline which nearby pharmacy will apply the discount. Bring your ID card, because the electronic prescription is linked to your personal number. If a family member collects the medicine for you, check in advance what document the pharmacy will ask for. During long-term treatment, keep an eye on the prescription's expiry date and plan your renewal visit to the doctor in advance so that you do not run out of medicine.

Cancer medicines

Medicines for cancer patients are funded under universal healthcare according to a list approved by the Minister of Health. According to an international report, since 2024 the drugs on this list no longer count towards the annual limit, and since July 2024 injectable drugs have been delivered directly to the treating facility, with the patient notified by text message. An expansion of the innovative medicines programme is planned for 2026-2027.

This topic has its own guide: what remains outside the list and how to proceed is covered in the guide to funding cancer treatment.

Medicines for rare diseases

The 2026 programme "Treatment of Patients with Rare Diseases and Patients Requiring Permanent Replacement Therapy" funds specific medicines in full, with no co-payment, within the budget allocated to the component. The list is extensive:

• haemophilia factor concentrates for children and adults;
• medical food supplement for phenylketonuria;
• medicines for cystic fibrosis (mucoviscidosis), including enzymes, inhaled treatments and antibiotics;
• specific medicines for inherited immunodeficiencies;
• growth hormone for growth hormone deficiency, Turner, Prader-Willi and Russell-Silver syndromes;
• biological drugs for juvenile arthritis;
• iron chelators for thalassaemia major and congenital dyserythropoietic anaemia;
• medicines for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Wilson's disease, severe hypothyroidism, spinal muscular atrophy, multiple sclerosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and achondroplasia.

You receive the medicine by voucher, from the programme's supplier. Note two details: the specific medicine for achondroplasia is available only to patients under 18, and people registered in Tbilisi and Adjara, who are covered by local programmes, are excluded from the multiple sclerosis component. Details for children are in the guide to children's treatment.

When a medicine is in no programme

In that case two public sources remain. The first is the referral services commission, set up under the Solidarity Fund, which considers individual applications. The application must include a copy of your ID, Form 100 in which the doctor explains why this particular medicine is needed, and a cost estimate from the pharmacy or supplier. The commission sets the state's share according to the patient's status. The current role of the fund and the commission is explained in the guide to the Solidarity Fund.

The second source is the municipality. Many City Halls and district administrations cover medicine costs up to an annual limit, sometimes through a separate sub-programme for specific diagnoses. The application is submitted according to your registered address and must include the prescription, Form 100 and a price statement from the pharmacy. Details are in the guide to municipal assistance.

An unregistered medicine: the permit and the funding are two separate matters

If a doctor, often at a clinic abroad, has prescribed a drug that is not registered in Georgia, you cannot buy it at a pharmacy. The law allows such a medicine to be brought in for a specific patient with an individual import permit. The permit covers that patient, that drug and the prescribed quantity; it does not cover the cost.

So work on two matters in parallel. For the permit, the prescription must be complete: the active substance, form, dose, length of the course and a justification of why a registered equivalent will not do; a foreign prescription is translated into Georgian, for which there is our prescription translation service. What the application looks like, what customs requires and how the cold chain protects a biological drug are explained in detail on the medicine import service page. For funding, the same route remains as for any medicine outside the lists: the commission and the municipality, with the supplier's invoice attached to the application.

The rules for taking your own medicines with you when travelling abroad are a separate topic, covered in the guide Medicines when travelling.

How to keep treatment uninterrupted

Medicine programmes often lose patients for technical reasons, not because of the diagnosis. Three situations are particularly risky:

• The age limit. Some components apply only to patients under 18. A few months before coming of age, find out with the doctor which programme the patient will move to.
• A change of registration. If a component excludes Tbilisi and Adjara beneficiaries, a change of address can move the patient from one programme to another, and this does not happen automatically.
• A change in the social score. When a family is reassessed, the score may change and the patient may end up in a different beneficiary group. If the co-payment suddenly goes up, check your social status first.

If a medicine is not dispensed or funding is refused, ask for a written answer stating the reason. How to appeal is explained in the guide to appealing a refusal, and if the matter involves a breach of patient rights, our patient rights protection service can help.

Frequently asked questions about funding for medicines