Guangdong Province issues rural insurance drug list
Shanghai. August 16. INTERFAX-CHINA - Guangdong's health department on Aug. 13 issued a list of drugs eligible for reimbursement under the new rural cooperative medical program in the province.
The list is comprised of a total of 1092 drugs: 746 chemical and biological drugs along with 347 finished traditional Chinese medicines (TCM).
China released an updated national essential drug list last year, comprised of 307 types of drug which qualify for reimbursement under the national medical insurance scheme.
Provinces are able to add drugs to the national essential list as they see fit. They can also compose lists of drugs for reimbursement under either the rural, urban worker or urban resident medical insurance programs.
In order to meet local needs, the provincial health department has added 525 drugs to the 307 items on the national essential drug list and the 260 on Guangdong's provincial essential drug list. Most of these additions are drugs used to treat common diseases, according to a local health official cited in Southern Metropolis Daily.
According to the report, the new rural cooperative medical program has 38 million participants in the province. It will take effect from the fourth quarter of this year and will be adjusted every three years according to local needs.
Rural cooperative insurance drug reimbursement lists cover drug purchases in county-level hospitals. Drug purchases in medical institutions below county-level are covered only by the national and provincial essential drug lists, the report said.
- MS