[Reporter's view] Where's the wrong answer note

from the MOHW?

The government is preparing the '2nd National Health Insurance Comprehensive Plan' to be implemented for five years until 2028.

 

The focus of the pharmaceutical industry is on drug spending policies.

 

This is because it is expected to contain the framework of the entire reimbursement system, from new drugs to generics.

 

In the first National Health Insurance Comprehensive Plan announced in 2019, the government set the macro direction of the benefits system as a 'trade-off'.

 

In a word, instead of lowering the price of generic drugs, the plan was to expand insurance coverage for new drugs.

 

In fact, over the past five years, the government has reduced generic drug prices in various ways.

 

In 2020, it revived the tiered drug pricing system and changed the framework of the system.

 

In addition, the re-evaluation of benefits that started with choline alfoscerate is being repeated every year.

 

In addition, the re-evaluation of the maximum amount of 15,000 registered drugs is in progress.

 

The pharmaceutical industry predicts that the government will further strengthen this reevaluation stance in the 2nd Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan.

 

If the previous re-evaluation was conducted based on clinical evidence, it is predicted that social necessity and cost-effectiveness will be considered in the future.

 

Ahead of the announcement of the second health insurance comprehensive plan, opinions of criticism are raised here and there.

 

If you listen to their voices, you can see that the complaint is not just because they are simply lowering the price of generic drugs or because the listing of new drugs is not accelerating.

 

The basis of criticism is the 'absence of evaluation' of the last 1st health insurance comprehensive plan.

 

It is said that there is no evaluation of how effective the macroscopic drug spending policy called trade-off was.

 

There is currently no way to know how much money was saved from generics and how many new drugs were listed on the reimbursement list through this.

 

In this situation, the government is showing a move to strengthen the stance of trade-off, so it is perhaps natural that the pharmaceutical industry is resisting.

 

Evaluation and reflection are essential elements in setting a constructive policy direction.

 

You can't cover everything up as in the past.

 

It is the same reason that test takers write incorrect answer notes to get better grades.

 

It isn't easy to create better results without objective evaluation and reflection on oneself.

 

Where is the Ministry of Health and Welfare's wrong answer note about the 1st Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan?

 

How much has domestic pharmaceutical spending decreased over the past five years and how much has insurance coverage been strengthened?

 

What was good about the 1st Comprehensive Health Care Plan and what could be improved?

 

Without a detailed evaluation of this, the resistance of the pharmaceutical industry will inevitably continue.

 

The government should remember that the first step toward creating a better system is to evaluate and reflect on the past.