A total of 119 drugs have been added to the latest national essential drug list for reimbursement after considerable cuts in their prices, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Monday.
China has included 119 more kinds of drugs in its national medical insurance reimbursement list, delivering greater price cuts and benefiting more people, the National Healthcare Security Administration or NHSA said at a press conference on Dec 28.
Ninety-six of the new additions to the list are exclusive drugs that offer lower prices through negotiation and 16 were newly put on the market this year, the NHSA said.
Altogether, a record number of 162 drugs on the list were negotiated for price reduction. A deal was reached for 119 of the drugs, with their prices dropping an average of 50.64 percent.
The long-expected move will greatly relieve the financial burden of patients with serious conditions ranging from cancer and rare diseases to COVID-19.
These drugs were among the 162 that were included in price negotiations between the administration and their producers earlier this year. Following the price negotiations, which took place in November and December, their prices dropped by nearly 51 percent on average, Xiong Xianjun, head of medical services supervision at the administration, said at a news conference.
Some antiviral drugs, including Arbidol and Ribavirin, which can be used for treating COVID-19, are among the drugs that were added to the latest list to further aid COVID-19 control and prevention in China, Xiong said. This means that all drugs that are recommended by the top health authority to treat COVID-19 have been included in the drug list and are therefore reimbursable for members of the basic medical insurance program.
Following the adjustment, the new list of reimbursable drugs, which takes effect on March 1, now covers 2,800 drugs.
China started pilot negotiations with pharmaceutical companies from home and abroad in 2015 to reduce the prices of expensive patented drugs and improve access to them for patients with serious diseases. Last year, 70 new drugs were placed on the list for reimbursement after months of talks between the authorities and pharmaceutical companies.
