Conduct reimbursement and health technology assessments (HTA) Endorse a reimbursement policy that guarantees up-to-date treatment and care The Chinese government has decided that the key to achieving health equity in the country and ensuring harmony in society is to provide broader service and increase financial coverage for treatments. Healthy China 2030 also expressly aims to provide better prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and care.129 The Chinese government has therefore started to review its reimbursement models. For innovative German and EU health care companies, this creates new opportunities. Their innovative products now have a chance to be reimbursed and be made available to more patients in China, unless price pressure increases to an extent that innovation is no longer valued or unless local preference rules are introduced that threaten to prioritize Chinese origin, as recently found in e.g., the draft administrative measures for the National Reimbursement Drug List130. The Health Technology Assessment (HTA) refers to the process of using evidence to evaluate the clinical efficacy/ effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and broader impact of health technologies on patients and the health care system. The evaluation of a technology’s value should seek 129
National Health Commission of the Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic of China, Development of China's Public Health as an Essential Element of Human Rights, <http:// en.nhc.gov.cn/2019-04/29/c_75161.htm> (accessed on 17.07.2020).
130
National Healthcare Security Administration, http://www.nhsa.gov.cn/ art/2020/4/29/art_48_3059.html Apr 29, 2019
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to incorporate the interests of patients, health care professionals, payers, and policy makers and manufacturers. In this respect, HTA is a means to improve patient care, aid physician decision-making, and enhance the functioning of the health care system as a whole.
While countries differ in their use of HTA, industry believes that the HTA process must be scientifically sound, transparent, consistent, and of practical use in both policy-making and clinical practice. An HTA system has not been implemented in China to date131. Since 2019, however, the Chinese government has been preparing to table a legislative proposal for drug evaluation.
Core challenges:
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Valuing innovation and guaranteeing differentiation: For medical products, it is important that patients have access to the latest innovations with the highest potential for improving health outcomes. Innovation must be valued in both the reimbursement and HTA system. In the past, this has not always been the case.
131
International Decision Support Initiative, The evolution of Health Technology Assessment in China, 05.2018, <https://www.idsihealth.org/wp-content/ uploads/2018/05/ICL_case_study_China_PRINT2-003.pdf>.
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