The National Healthcare Security Administration ("NHSA") and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security ("MOHRSS") have recently adjusted the National Drug Catalog for Basic Medical Insurance, Work-related Injury Insurance and Maternity Insurance (the "Catalog"), with effect from January 1, 2020.
The Catalog is divided into five sections, namely explanatory notes, western medicine, Chinese patent drugs, drugs whose prices are negotiated during the term of agreement and Chinese herbal pieces. The Catalog adds 148 drugs, including 47 western medicine and 101 Chinese patent drugs, to the list of common drugs; a total of 150 drugs, mainly those drugs whose approval document numbers have been cancelled by the National Medical Products Administration ("NMPA") and others with low clinical value, extensively abused or replaced by better alternatives, are removed from the list. Also, as for drugs that have important clinical value but are highly-priced or that are exclusive patented drugs with major impacts on the medical insurance fund, it is preliminarily decided to hold negotiations for 128 types of such drugs, including 109 western medicine and 19 Chinese patent drugs. Furthermore, the Catalog places limits on the scope of medical insurance payment for some drugs that could be easily abused, mainly antibiotics, nutritional preparations, and traditional Chinese medicine injections.