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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Drug price decreases to take effect in April: ministry
The National Health Insurance logo is pictured in an undated photograph. Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
By Chiu Chih-jou and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Price adjustments for 4,568 drug items that would decrease drug expenditure for the National Health Insurance （NHI） program by NT$5.53 billion （US$174.45 million） are to go into effect on April 1, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday.
National Health Insurance Administration National Health Insurance Dispute Mediation Committee Director-General Huang Yu-wen （黃育文） said this year marked the least number of drugs undergoing price adjustment since the implementation of the Drug Expenditure Target
program in 2013.
Huang said that 4,568 drugs are to see price adjustments, with the majority, 4,551, to see a price decrease, and 17 to be increased, for a 2.8 percent adjustment range.
Huang said that drugs for cardiovascular diseases, nerve systems and general anti-infection drugs are to see the most significant adjustments.
The drug Irinotecan Hydrochloride Trihydrate, used to treat colorectal cancer, is to see prices go down by 35 percent from NT$2,504 a vial to NT$1,623 a vial, while Letero Film Coating Tablet, used to treat breast cancer, is to drop 28 percent, from NT$36.6 per tablet to NT$26.5, Huang said.
Bentyline Granulues “Johnson,” tablets. used to treat gastric and duodenal ulcers, had decreased by 27 percent from NT$36.4 to NT$26.6 per tablet.
Dualpress tablets containing Amlodipine besylate/Atorvastatin calcium that are used to treat myocardial infarctions and antiemetics have increased by 20 percent and 19 percent respectively, Huang said.
Huang said the NHI program makes price adjustments annually and considers the number of drugs being adjusted for and the rates of price adjustment to ensure that base prices are not overly impacted.
Pharmaceutical companies that experience profit deceres due to the price adjustments should notify the NHIA within two weeks and make suggestions, as stated by Article 34 of the Regulations for Payout for National Health Insurance Drug Payout Items （全民健康保險藥物給付項目及支付標準）, she said.
The NT$5.53 billion conserved by the price adjustments would go toward researching and developing new medical products that share the same dosage quantity, properties and dosage form, she said.
She said that such a development could help bring down prices for generic drugs and allow the government to shift more resources to new drugs that are still protected by patents.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
