On the motion of the Social Affairs Committee, the second reading of the Bill on Amendments to the Medicinal Products Act and the Health Insurance Act (643 SE), initiated by the Government, was concluded. The amendments specify the procedure for organisation of the administrative proceedings concerning and supervision over medicinal products; reduce the requirements established for pharmacies of small towns in order to ensure sustainability of provision of pharmacy services in areas with a smaller number of users of medicinal products; update the requirements for application for marketing authorisation for medicinal products and storage of medicinal products, and grant the State Agency of Medicines and the Health Board which exercise supervision over compliance with the Act the right to examine, in the course of supervision, also the medical prescriptions that have been issued. In view of more purposeful use of state funds, the retail price of a medicinal product is defined, on the basis of which the Estonian Health Insurance Fund takes over the obligation to pay for medicinal products; a uniform procedure for application of the reference price or the price agreement is established for medicinal products entered in the list of medicinal products of the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, and the Ministry of Social Affairs is given the opportunity to initiate price agreement proceedings in order to reduce the terms of entry into force of actual discount rates of medicinal products. The Bill was sent to the third reading.