National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA)Director General Lee Po-chang said that in recent years, the average NHI global budget has been growing at an average annual rate of 4.4 percent, however, allocations towards cancer drugs alone rose 10.68 percent, reaching NT$40.3 billion in 2021. Director General Lee said that while the NHI will continue striving to meet patients’ needs, it hopes to use its finite resources efficiently.
On resource allocations towards new drugs and new medical technology, the NHIA has not only implemented horizon scanning (HS) to estimate budget impacts, as well as health technology assessment (HTA) to verify the cost effectiveness of novel health care interventions to help shape policy decisions. To maximize finite resources, the NHIA will also review items already approved for reimbursement and make funding adjustments to allocate resources to the most effective treatments.
In addition, analysis of real world data is employed to verify the efficacy of NHI-reimbursed drugs. Pointing to non-small cell lung cancer as an example, Director General Lee said that survival rates among late-stage patients have significantly exceeded patient prescribed chemotherapy drugs. Therefore, authorities have expanded reimbursement of the drug. Further, in response to the growing trend for precision medicine, reimbursing companion genetic screening has become more and more important, and the NHIA has accelerated the review process for its reimbursement.
Under the constraint of limited budget, biosimilar drugs are also another to curb expenditures, Director General Lee said, noting that spending on biosimilars have been rising at a rate of 8 to 10 percent annually, taking up around 18 percent of the NHI’s drug spending. The NHIA has also exempted biosimilars from prior authorization, expanded its usage period as well as raising its reimbursement rate. Although these changes will also impact NHI finances, the promotion of the use of biosimilars is still one of the goals of the NHIA.
[2022-4-9/The United News]
