The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) has released the finalized National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) for 2023, adding 126 new drugs to the list. The new additions include 21 oncology drugs, 17 COVID-19 treatments, 15 drugs for diabetes, mental illness, and rheumatoid/immune diseases, and 15 rare disease drugs. The NRDL now covers a total of 3,088 drugs, comprising 1,698 western medicines and 1,390 traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs).
The negotiation and price bidding process involved 143 drugs, with an 84.6% success rate as companies accepted an average price cut of 61.7% to be included in the NRDL. The success rate and price deductions are in line with last year’s update. The NHSA estimates that the NRDL price negotiations will result in RMB 40 billion (USD 5.6 billion) in health expenditure savings for patients over the next two years.
Since its establishment in 2018 and the introduction of the price negotiations process for NRDL entry, the NHSA has managed six rounds of NRDL updates, adding 744 new drugs to the reimbursement list, 446 of which were included through negotiations. The negotiation channel drugs include 100 oncology products and 93 molecules for chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, mental illness, and more. Meanwhile, 395 drugs have been removed from the NRDL over the six rounds of updates.
The negotiation channel and price bidding drugs are subject to nationally unified NRDL payment standards, with the exception of winning bids in the national volume-based procurement (VBP) program, which take precedence. Local governments are required to set co-pay and reimbursement coverage ratios based on local funding capabilities. For drugs with determined payment standards, if the actual market prices exceed the NRDL payment standards, insured persons shall bear the excess; otherwise, local reimbursement should be based on the actual price paid.
During the agreement period, companies can apply for new specifications of existing negotiation channel or price bid drugs to be covered by the NRDL, with the NHSA having the final say. For negotiation drugs with generic equivalents approved during the price agreement period, the generic’s online procurement price cannot exceed the existing NRDL payment standard. Provincial healthcare security bureaus can adjust NRDL payment standards according to market competition. If a negotiation drug or price bid drug is included in national VBP or other government pricing schemes, local HSA bureaus can adjust NRDL payment standards accordingly.- Flcube.com
