China adds 744 drugs to reimbursement list

China has added 744 drugs to its national reimbursement drug list in the past six years in a bid to secure public access to key medications and reduce their financial burden, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Tuesday.

According to the administration, the list of medicines covered by national medical insurance has been adjusted regularly in recent years to guarantee access to common medications while improving accessibility of drugs for those with major illnesses or special groups, such as children, the elderly and pregnant women.

A total of 720 million people have benefited from the reimbursement policy. Price negotiations and insurance coverage have saved the public over 700 billion yuan ($98 billion) in the past six years.

The reimbursement catalog now contains 3,088 types of medicines and covers common drugs, rare diseases, and novel medications.

During a news conference on Tuesday, Zhang Ke, head of the administration, said that China has also launched nine rounds of national bulk buy programs targeting drugs and four rounds targeting high-value medical consumables to further alleviate patients' burdens.

To better cope with an aging society and encourage births, the administration has expanded trials of long-term care insurance to 49 cities, covering 180 million people. Twenty provincial-level regions have now covered assisted fertility treatments with public medical insurance.