TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) has instructed officials to assess the possibility of suspending Taiwan’s routine drug price surveys for three years in an effort to strengthen the stability of the country’s pharmaceutical supply.
Annual surveys review drug prices covered under the National Health Insurance program based on factors such as demand and clinical necessity. This can result in reductions to drug reimbursement prices, which can in turn lower payments manufacturers receive from hospitals for supplying the medicines, according to CNA and Health Media Now.
The directive came after Lai chaired a meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee on Thursday. Huang Chin-shun (黃金舜), the only pharmaceutical industry representative at the meeting, said the issue was raised directly with Lai and committee members during discussions on national drug resilience.
This year’s price adjustments lowered NHI spending on covered drugs by NT$3.6 billion. Huang said that while the cuts help control healthcare costs, repeated reductions, along with ongoing drug shortages and rising costs, have made some medicines unprofitable to produce and worsened conditions for pharmaceutical companies.
The National Health Insurance Administration has said companies can file appeals if the minimum reimbursement price for a drug does not cover production costs. However, Huang said the process can be complicated and discouraging for companies.
Huang compared the appeals process to breaking down the cost of every ingredient in a bowl of beef noodle soup. He said companies must provide detailed breakdowns before the government can approve a profit margin, which may be minimal.
Lai said the proposal is intended to strengthen the resilience of Taiwan’s medical supply system by reviewing the structure of drug supply chains and the country’s pharmaceutical production capacity. Industry representatives welcomed the idea.
Huang said years of price cuts had weakened the industry. He added that a three-year pause could give companies room to stabilize operations and invest more in developing generic or patented drugs.
