Posted by Michael Wonder on 20 Aug 2019
China adds 148 drugs to key insurance list
20 August 2019 - China on Tuesday added 148 drugs to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes, part of a push to lower patients' out-of-pocket costs in one of the world's largest drug markets, state media reported.
AstraZeneca's Kombiglyze and Merck's Janumet diabetes treatments are among the drugs that will now be covered by national insurance, according to the updated list published by China's National Healthcare Security Administration.
Its last major overhaul in 2017 was seen at the time as a much welcomed fillip for drugmakers as many patients had opted not to try new drugs because of high costs. Prior to that, it had not been updated for 8 years.
