About MMAP® (Maximum Medical Aid Price)

What is MMAP®

MMAP® (Maximum Medical Aid Price) serves as a guide to determine the maximum medical aid price that healthcare funders will reimburse for an interchangeable multi-source pharmaceutical product. This reference price tool is wholly owned and maintained by MediKredit.

Divider

What is an interchangeable multi-source pharmaceutical product?
An interchangeable multi-source pharmaceutical product is a product that has exactly the same active ingredient/s and salt/s combination, the strength of the active ingredient/s and dosage form (for example tablets versus capsules) as other pharmaceutical products that can be obtained from manufacturers or suppliers. It is commonly referred to as generic medicines. 

Divider
Is MMAP® formulary based?
No, it is not. A maximum price for a category of pharmaceutical products is determined, but MMAP® does not aim to stipulate the specific pharmaceutical product to be dispensed.
Divider

Is MMAP® a tender system?
No, it is not. All clinically appropriate pharmaceutical products are considered by the MediKredit Clinical Committee when determining MMAP®.

Divider

Are any pharmaceutical products excluded from consideration for the MMAP® process?
Products are excluded from the MMAP® listing if they are designated as non-substitutable by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), and in line with substitutability data from international sources such as Australia, USA (FDA) and Europe.

Divider

How are MMAP® categories of products determined?
The MediKredit Clinical Committee reviews each potential and existing MMAP® category based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. For example, MediKredit will take the severity of the indicated condition/s into consideration and/or whether the treated condition/s are acute or chronic. The individual MMAP® categories are defined by which pharmaceutical products can be regarded as being generically equivalent.

Divider

How often are the MMAP® categories and prices reviewed?
MMAP® categories and prices are monitored throughout the year and updated accordingly as a result of:

  • Price changes of pharmaceutical products within an existing category; and/or
  • The launch of new pharmaceutical products that prompt the creation of new categories or which may influence the MMAP® price; and/or
  • The discontinuation of pharmaceutical products and/or withdrawal of pharmaceutical products within an existing category requiring the deletion of the category.

MMAP® Listings are done annually. Manufacturers and suppliers of registered pharmaceutical products are invited to submit their products and approved SEP (Single Exit Price) for potential inclusion in the MMAP® Listing. Although not all manufacturers and suppliers elect to have their products listed on MMAP®, all available products within a specific category are taken into consideration when the MMAP® price is determined.

Divider

How is the Maximum Medical Aid Price determined?
Prices are determined to allow flexibility when selecting a pharmaceutical product. It is also important to note that the MMAP® price levels do not necessarily equate to the prices of any specific pharmaceutical product or brand.

Divider

Where can the latest MMAP® Listing be viewed?
The most updated version of the MMAP® listing can be accessed from the download below.

Divider

How are the categories of pharmaceutical products listed?
The MMAP® listing is a numbered list of items sorted alphabetically by active ingredient with accompanying strength, dosage form and where appropriate, salt. Each individual category then lists pharmaceutical products that are available in such category in the event that the pharmaceutical manufacturer or supplier has agreed to listing. The maximum allowable price per pack size, inclusive of 15% VAT but exclusive of any professional or dispensing fees, which may be chargeable at the point of dispensing, is indicated on the list.

Divider

How does MMAP® impact the patient?
The doctor or pharmacy must charge the actual price of the brand supplied to the patient and not the MMAP® amount. The doctor or pharmacy is entitled by law to supply any alternative interchangeable multi-source pharmaceutical product (“generic substitution”) unless:

  • Specifically indicated otherwise by the prescribing doctor; or
  • Expressly forbidden by the patient to do so; or
  • If the price of the interchangeable multi-source pharmaceutical product is higher than that of the prescribed medicine.