China plans to add 128 drugs to basic healthcare insurance

BEIJING -- China plans to add 128 medicines to the list of those that are covered by basic healthcare insurance, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA).

The new drugs are 109 modern medicines and 19 traditional Chinese medicines used in treating cancer, rare diseases, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and chronic illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes, the NHSA said Tuesday.

The administration will have to negotiate with producers of these medicines since they are mostly patented proprietary drugs with high prices.

The negotiation process aims to reach prices both acceptable to the pharmaceutical companies and the medical insurance fund, said Xiong Xianjun, a senior NHSA official.

A total of 36 and 17 drugs were included under the national healthcare insurance after the same negotiation procedure in 2017 and 2018, respectively.