Proposal to add 28 cancer treatment drugs to the list of drugs covered by health insurance.

This information was provided by pharmacist Nguyen Quoc Toan from the Health Insurance Department, Ministry of Health , on the sidelines of a workshop to disseminate Circular 37 and gather opinions on the list of drugs covered by health insurance, on December 5th.

The list of newly proposed drugs submitted by hospitals to the Ministry of Health includes 75 drugs with 25 therapeutic groups, of which 28 are targeted drugs for cancer treatment, while the remainder are antibiotics, insulin and drugs for treating blood sugar, heart failure, mental disorders, hypertension, angina, contrast agents, Parkinson's disease, pain relievers, fever reducers, dermatological drugs, endocrine drugs, urinary tract drugs, antithrombotic drugs, antifungal drugs, anticoagulants, detoxification drugs, antiviral drugs, etc.

According to Mr. Toan, the health insurance fund is limited, therefore, the council will have to analyze the impact and effectiveness to decide which new drugs will be added to the list of drugs covered by health insurance.

"The council will consider and balance the inclusion of drugs in the health insurance coverage list to ensure the highest and best effectiveness for patients, while also balancing the budget," Mr. Toan said. The new drug list is expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2025.

Patients wait to buy medicine at the hospital. (Photo: NL)

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang, Director of the Health Insurance Department, Ministry of Health, Circular No. 37, recently issued by the Ministry of Health, publicly and transparently outlines the criteria for selecting drugs to be included in the health insurance list. The Ministry of Health will update the list with new drugs and remove those with warnings of ineffectiveness or unsuitability from the list.

According to Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan, medicine is always a crucial component, accounting for a large proportion of the total cost of medical examination and treatment under health insurance.

The list of drugs covered by health insurance is issued in a separate document to ensure regular updates. In reality, this list has been slow to update in the past and has not met the healthcare needs of health insurance participants.

Many new and effective medications have not yet been included in the list of drugs covered by health insurance, so patients have to pay for them out of pocket when prescribed. This significantly increases the proportion of out-of-pocket payments.

Therefore, the third principle when building and updating the drug list is to ensure the rights of health insurance participants, contributing to gradually reducing the direct payment rate of health insurance participants.

Nhu Loan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/de-xuat-bo-sung-28-thuoc-dieu-tri-ung-thu-vao-danh-muc-bao-hiem-y-te-chi-tra-ar911715.html