The Hunan Healthcare Security Administration has released the “Pilot Implementation Plan for Volume-based Procurement (VBP) Drugs to Be Sold in Retail Pharmacies in Hunan Province,” outlining a strategic approach to integrating VBP drugs into the retail pharmacy landscape. The plan mandates the selection of at least one county (city) and one district outside of Changsha to pilot the program, with all designated medical insurance outpatient coordination pharmacies within the pilot area required to participate. Other medical insurance designated pharmacies may voluntarily join.
The scope of the pilot includes VBP winning bids currently implemented in Hunan Province, with a commitment from winning manufacturers to ensure supply. The document encourages participating pharmacies to achieve “five unifications”: unified hanging of VBP identification signs, unified setting of VBP drug zones, unified dual label price disclosure, unified sales price commitments, and unified supervision and management. Participating pharmacies must submit an application and commitment letter to the local healthcare security department.
The provincial healthcare security bureau has released a list of 660 drugs (by generic names) that are eligible for the pilot program, to be dynamically adjusted. Pilot pharmacies are required to independently select drugs from the list, with chain stores stocking no fewer than 60 such drugs and individual retail pharmacies stocking at least 50.
The document also emphasizes the standardization of the pilot work, focusing on supply and demand coordination, strengthening supply security, and enhancing supervision and inspection. Winning manufacturers are required to adhere to price commitments, supplying winning bid products in a timely and sufficient manner at a price not higher than the VBP price. Pilot pharmacies should display the winning price and sales price with dual labels, with sales encouraged at prices not higher than the winning price, and allowed to increase by no more than 15% based on the winning price. VBP drugs in the pilot program will be included in the overall settlement of medical insurance outpatient clinics based on the winning price as the payment standard, with those below the winning price settled at the actual price. Reselling, exchanging, distributing, or selling VBP drugs across provinces, as well as bundling selling, is strictly prohibited. Full process management and drug traceability must be implemented.- Flcube.com
