The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on March 25 held a National Health Insurance Committee (NHIC) meeting, which discussed topics including a proposal to establish a national cancer drugs fund. Taiwan Alliance of Patients’ Organization (TAPO) President Wu Hong-lai said that the plans to establish a national cancer drugs fund are still in the early stages, and the organization hopes that it will be formed following the precedent set in England to enable quicker access to new drugs for patients. However, as the scheme falls outside the remit of the of the NHIA, the proposal has been submitted to the MOHW.

National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director General Lee Po-chang said that although the National Health Insurance provides basic health care to the public, due to constraints of the global budget, there are many high price new drugs and new medical devices that cannot be included under reimbursement. Currently, most Taiwanese on average have two to three commercial health insurance policies, however, the policies’ coverage often overlap with the NHI and often do not have clear rules on whether out of pocket charges on new drugs and medical devices will be covered.

On this topic, the NHIA is planning to hold in the first half of this year, a series of forums to discuss the integration between the NHI and commercial health insurance, to enable the latter to cover more items that are not covered by the NHI.

Director General Lee said that the NHIA will continue to provide telemedicine services to the rural areas and outlying islands. In addition, proposals to increase number of areas where telemedicine services will be provided, and the types of medical conditions for telemedicine, will be included for discussion in the upcoming MBRS meeting on March 30.

[2022-3-16/CNA]