OREANDA-NEWS. April 20, 2010. Ingosstrakh has launched the sale of the ‘Apteka Rigla’ voluntary medical insurance programme for individuals. From its very start in March 2009 it had only been on offer for corporate clients. 

This programme provides an opportunity for our clients to receive free medication from the Rigla chain of chemist’s shops with their total cost being restricted by an insurance amount of 7,000 rubles a year per person, which is more than double the cost of the programme itself. 

After receiving a prescription from their GP or other medical specialist at the polyclinic clients may go to any of the 140 Rigla chemist’s shops in Moscow or the Moscow region which participate in this programme, and obtain necessary medication for free upon producing an Ingosstrakh voluntary medical insurance policy and the prescription. If the prescribed medication is not available at that particular chemist’s shop, the client will be offered an analogue medication without the need to make out a new prescription provided that the price of the substitute medication does not exceed that of the prescribed medication by more than 30%. The client may also make a relevant inquiry and the chemist’s personnel will inquire via the Rigla chain whether such medication is available elsewhere, or make an order for it subsequently informing the client when the order can be picked up.

 “The list of medication which can be purchased within the scope of the ‘Apteka Rigla’ programme includes over 4,000 names related to practically every disease covered by the voluntary medical insurance programmes, - says the Deputy Director of the Medical Insurance Department at OJSIC Ingosstrakh Lada Akulshina. – The list does not include medication prescribed in treatment of critical conditions and more severe illnesses which are not covered by any of the voluntary medical insurance programmes yet are covered by he special state compulsory medical insurance programmes, among them a number of oncological diseases, tuberculosis, etc”.

People who hold such an insurance policy will be able to go to one of the chain chemist’s shops and obtain a brand discount card from Rigla which may be used in the over-the-counter purchase of medication and other goods from chemist’s shops not requiring special prescription from medical officers. All medication sold at the Rigla chemist’s shops hold a 100% quality guarantee as the chief supplier of the Rigla chain is the major national distributor ProTech, which in turn benefits from direct supplies from more than 800 manufacturers of pharmaceuticals, medicinal products and parapharmaceuticals.