The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) plans to set up a specialized office to speed up the process of adding new drugs to National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage, administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday.
As new drugs are being developed that are relatively expensive, several medical welfare groups and patients’ associations, including the Formosa Cancer Foundation and Taiwan Young Patient Association, have urged the government to set up a special fund to help cover medical expenses for the new drugs and speed up the NHI coverage review process.
The groups have said it takes about two years for new cancer drugs to be assessed and included in the list of drugs covered by the NHI.
Photo: CNA
New drugs currently need to pass a review and obtain a drug license from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before applying to the administration for NHI coverage.
Shi said the specialized office would speed up the review of new drugs — especially those for unmet medical needs, breakthrough therapies, or which have a longer-lasting effect and can replace current drugs.
Hopefully the office would start operating in January next year, he said, adding that its main functions would be to conduct health technology assessments of new drugs, gather clinical data on new drugs that are temporarily covered by the NHI for future assessment, database management and training personnel to assist drug companies in providing the correct information in their report.
The proposed budget for the office is NT$100 million (US$3.14 million) for the first year, and the number of office personnel would be expanded from eight administrative personnel at present to about 100, including specialists in health economics, statistics and database management, Shi said.
With the FDA and the office reviewing the drugs simultaneously, the goal is to reduce the process to one year, he said.
As the office would be handling sensitive personal information when gathering clinical data, the next phase should be to establish an administrative agency, similar to the British National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, but legislation would be required for that, which would take about three to four years, Shi said,
As the UK has the Cancer Drugs Fund and the Innovative Medicines Fund, which provide interim funding for patients to gain access to promising new drugs faster, the administration also hopes to set up a new fund for drugs that is separate from the NHI global budget, Shi said
He said about 80 percent of the new drugs funded by the Innovative Medicines Fund later passed review and were covered by the British National Health Service, so the new drugs fund could cover new drugs where some uncertainties remain regarding their therapeutic effects, and further data and assessment is required.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS