Reported by Chen Chi-Xiang
The NHI Drug Dispensing Items and Fee Schedule Joint Establishment Meeting made a decision on the 24th to include 3 immunotherapies into the NHI Benefit Scheme. The 3 new drugs will be reimbursed for the treatments of 8 cancers, including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, typical Hodgkin's lymphoma, urinary tract epithelial cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, liver cancer and gastric cancer. About 800 patients will be able to access these NHI-reimbursed new drugs as soon as from June.
The NHI Drug Dispensing Items and Fee Schedule Joint Establishment Meeting held a meeting on the 24th to discuss the reimbursement for immunotherapies. A consensus was reached on 3 Immune checkpoint inhibitors for the treatment of 8 cancers.
According to Dai Xuei-Yung of the NHIA, the NHI will reimburse the drugs for treating melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, typical Hodgkin's lymphoma, urinary tract epithelial cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma, liver cancer and gastric cancer.
As the NHI resources are limited, the NHIA is to set a budget of NT$800 million for the 3 immunotherapies this year. The new drugs are available for patients to whom chemotherapies and other target therapies are not workable and whose test results support the treatments. It is estimated that about 800 patients would be qualified.
Dai pointed out that the NHIA will start to negotiate drug prices with drug companies after the reimbursement scope is finalized. Hopefully, the new immunotherapies can be formally included in the NHI Benefit Scheme in the first half of this year.
【2019-01-24/ China Times】
