NHSA to Implement the Pilot Program for Conducting Centralized Procurement and Use of Drugs by the State

The National Healthcare Security Administration ("NHSA") has recently issued the Opinions on Supporting Measures Concerning Medical Insurance for the Pilot Program for Conducting Centralized Procurement and Use of Drugs by the State (the "Opinions").

The Opinions call for efforts to: 1. put in place the policy for advanced payments from the medical insurance fund; 2. maintain consistency between the medical insurance fund payment standard and the purchase prices; 3. improve the payment methods of medical insurance and encourage centralized procurement of drugs; and 4. establish the assessment mechanism for hospitals' centralized procurement. Further, the Opinions clearly state that all pilot regions shall work effectively on maintaining consistency between the medical insurance fund payment standard for drugs bought in a centralized manner and the purchase prices, and unify the payment standard for the same drugs covered by the overall-planned fund, among all levels of designated medical institutions of all kinds in the pilot regions. For some drugs whose prices are much higher than those of the designated ones, a pilot region may, on a step-by-step basis and under the principle of category-based guidance, progressively adjust the payment standard and complete the adjustment process within two to three years. In principle, the adjustment shall be made in accordance with three requirements, one of which states that "where the price of a non-designated drug at the end of 2018 is over two times that of the designated drug, the payment standard in 2019 shall be the result of adjusting downward the original price by at least 30%, and the payment standard in 2020 or in 2021 shall be adjusted to be equal to the price of the designated drug".



(Source: http://www.nhsa.gov.cn/art/2019/3/5/art_37_952.html)

Note: The link to the Chinese official website of the document is for your reference.