National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director General Shih Chung-liang on June 27 during a forum said that the government has allocated NT$5 billion from the central government budget to the Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) this year and is planning to expand the initiative to a scale of NT$10 billion in 2026. However, Director General Shih said that whether the CDF can be expanded beyond NT$10 billion depends on the state of National Health Insurance (NHI) finances. He noted that if the NHI premium rates remain unchanged next year, the NHI reserve fund is at risk of falling short of the legally mandated threshold of one month’s operating expenses. Without additional funding allocations, this could become a factor limiting the scale of the CDF.

NHIA Director General Shih said that currently the only sources of funding for the CDF are allocations from the central government budget, and that without new legislation, no alternatives to fund raising are possible. However, while making new legislation is not difficult, the true challenge is finding new revenue streams and preventing reliance on existing revenue streams.

Director General Shih also outlined three priority conditions for the CDF’s conditional listing, including treatments for cancer types with the highest incidence and mortality rates and those with safety and efficacy backed by strong real-world evidence, as well as those that enhance treatment options in areas where effective medication is not yet available.

[2025-6-27/Liberty Times]