Currently, it takes an average of 2 years and 5 months for a newly licensed drug to be listed by the NHI.  In order to accelerate the process and to address patients’ need, the NHIA is planning to inaugurate an HTA Office in January 2024 and increasing the manpower from just 8 to over 100 to process NHI applications.

Dr Shih Chung-Liang, the Director-General of the NHIA, pointed out that HTA is an important mechanism for supporting the decision on NHI new drug listing. The HTA Office, with its full title as 'The Taiwan Health Policy and Health Technology Assessment Office,' will receive a fund of NT$200 million from the tobacco tax levy and will have a staff of 110. The HTA aims to expand the office to a corporation by 2028 with 300 staff members.　The NHIA plans to submit a law amendment proposal to the Legislative Yuan in the second half of next year.

In the meantime, the NHIA is drafting the Health Technology Reassessment Guidelines, which will serve as the basis for reviewing the performance of NHI-listed items and adjusting reimbursement accordingly. This initiative aims to further increase the efficiency of NHI resources.

The NHIA is also working on the draft of the fee tariff for NHI listing applications. Applicants will have the option to pay a premium for accelerated assessment, with priority given to those qualified for parallel submission. The NHIA has set a target of completing the assessment within 6 months of TFDA’s authorisation.

Currently, only 8 staff members are handling all NHI listing applications. Last year, there were 247 new applications, allowing only 13 minutes of discussion for each case. The entire application process takes approximately 2 years and 5 months. The inauguration of the HTA Office is expected to significantly reduce the processing time.

【2023-11-28 / Liberty Times】