Uruguay adds 12 medicines to mandatory health coverage

Uruguay has expanded access to 12 medicines and treatment indications through its Integrated National Health System, sharply reducing what many patients will pay. Medicines that can currently cost up to 100,000 Uruguayan pesos will be available for an average regulated charge of about 300 pesos, depending on the healthcare provider.

The additions will enter the country’s mandatory Medicines Therapeutic Formulary in stages from September to November 2026. The first group includes gliflozins for diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease; tiotropium for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; oral labetalol for hypertension during pregnancy; and nicotine patches and gum to support smoking cessation. Tiotropium alone currently costs about 6,000 pesos for patients outside the new arrangement.

Later stages include dienogest for pain associated with endometriosis, cinacalcet for certain parathyroid disorders, tenofovir for chronic hepatitis B and prevention of transmission during pregnancy, and several antibiotics reserved for serious or complicated infections. Some of those antibiotics currently cost between 50,000 and 100,000 pesos.

The formulary sets medicines that participating health providers must make available. The expansion follows an agreement between the Health Ministry and healthcare institutions, and authorities said it would proceed without increasing capitation payments. A joint technical commission will also assess possible future additions, including HIV prevention and treatment options and an asthma therapy.