Posted by Michael Wonder on 17 Jun 2023
Using health technology assessment to inform insurance reimbursement of high technology medicines in China: an example of cancer immunotherapy
15 June 2023 - Yingyao Chen and colleagues examine what can be learnt from China’s approach to funding expensive high technology medicines with uncertain long term benefit.
High technology medicines (innovative medicines with potentially substantial clinical effectiveness and expensive price tags) have created a dilemma for health insurance programmes across the world. On one hand, they offer a great source of hope for patients, especially those who have severe health conditions such as late stage cancer. On the other hand, they are typically expensive, substantially contributing to rising healthcare costs. Maintaining a balance between cost control and meeting patients’ demand for high technology medicines has been a challenge for health insurance decision makers in many countries.
