A call to publicize the review process for drugs being considered for National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage needs to be discussed further, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said yesterday, adding that it has five strategies to speed up reviews.
Three patient support groups on Monday called on the NHIA to ensure transparency and traceability in new drug reviews, as it would enable people with cancer, rare diseases or other illnesses who are waiting for new drugs to make more informed decisions.
The NHIA yesterday said it recognizes the groups’ call, and plans to digitize the NHI drug review process next year, enabling drug firms to keep track of the schedule and progress of reviews.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
However, as making the information available to the public could affect drug companies’ rights and interests, the NHIA would invite representatives from drug firms and patient support groups to discuss the issue, it said.
The NHIA said it is committed to speeding up the review process for new drugs or treatments to be covered by the NHI, adding that 31 types of new drugs — including 11 cancer drugs, one for a rare disease and 12 others — have been added to the NHI system this year, while six are waiting to be announced.
The number of new drugs added to NHI coverage this year is up 82 percent from last year, and is expected to benefit about 220,000 people, it said, adding that newly included cancer drugs would help each patient save about NT$3.51 million (US$111,453) per year.
The NHIA said it has five strategies to speed up reviews.
One is “implementing an interim payment system,” or temporarily covering certain drugs that have not completed their phase 3 clinical trials, but are urgently needed in clinical practice, it said.
Other strategies are “establishing a national health policy and medical technology evaluation center” as a specialized agency that would handle medical technology and new drug reviews, and “implementing a parallel review mechanism” next year so that drug firms can apply for the Food and Drug Administration’s drug permit and NHI coverage review at the same time, it said.
The final two strategies are “expanding the budget for new drugs” — the NHIA has allocated up to NT$7.094 billion for new drug and technology and interim payment next year, almost twice as much as this year’s budget — and “setting up a new cancer drug fund” that is separate from the NHI’s overall budget, it said.
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