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Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China

To cope with the increasing healthcare costs brought about by the universal health insurance programme, national volume-based procurement (NVBP) was implemented in China to reduce drug prices. However, the impact of NVBP remains unknown. We reported the effects of the NVBP pilot programme on medicat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Yuan, Jing, Lu, Z Kevin, Xiong, Xiaomo, Jiang, Bin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8438819/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34518200
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005519
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author Yuan, Jing
Lu, Z Kevin
Xiong, Xiaomo
Jiang, Bin
author_facet Yuan, Jing
Lu, Z Kevin
Xiong, Xiaomo
Jiang, Bin
author_sort Yuan, Jing
collection PubMed
description To cope with the increasing healthcare costs brought about by the universal health insurance programme, national volume-based procurement (NVBP) was implemented in China to reduce drug prices. However, the impact of NVBP remains unknown. We reported the effects of the NVBP pilot programme on medication affordability and discussed the challenges and recommendations for further reforms. A total of 25 molecules won the bidding in the NVBP pilot programme, and price cuts ranged from 25% to 96%. Medication affordability was measured as the number of days’ wages needed to pay for a course of treatment, and the medication was identified as affordable if the cost of a treatment course was less than the average daily wage. After the NVBP, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 33% to 67%, and the mean affordability improved from 8.2 days’ wages to 2.8 days’ wages. Specifically, for rural residents, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 13% to 58%, and the mean affordability improved from 15.7 days’ wages to 5.3 days’ wages. For urban residents, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 54% to 71%, and the mean affordability improved from 5.9 days’ wages to 2.0 days’ wages. Implementing the NVBP substantially improved medication affordability. In future reforms, a multifaceted approach addressing all issues in the health system is needed to enhance medicine access.
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spelling pubmed-84388192021-09-24 Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China Yuan, Jing Lu, Z Kevin Xiong, Xiaomo Jiang, Bin BMJ Glob Health Analysis To cope with the increasing healthcare costs brought about by the universal health insurance programme, national volume-based procurement (NVBP) was implemented in China to reduce drug prices. However, the impact of NVBP remains unknown. We reported the effects of the NVBP pilot programme on medication affordability and discussed the challenges and recommendations for further reforms. A total of 25 molecules won the bidding in the NVBP pilot programme, and price cuts ranged from 25% to 96%. Medication affordability was measured as the number of days’ wages needed to pay for a course of treatment, and the medication was identified as affordable if the cost of a treatment course was less than the average daily wage. After the NVBP, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 33% to 67%, and the mean affordability improved from 8.2 days’ wages to 2.8 days’ wages. Specifically, for rural residents, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 13% to 58%, and the mean affordability improved from 15.7 days’ wages to 5.3 days’ wages. For urban residents, the proportion of affordable drugs increased from 54% to 71%, and the mean affordability improved from 5.9 days’ wages to 2.0 days’ wages. Implementing the NVBP substantially improved medication affordability. In future reforms, a multifaceted approach addressing all issues in the health system is needed to enhance medicine access. BMJ Publishing Group 2021-09-13 /pmc/articles/PMC8438819/ /pubmed/34518200 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005519 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Analysis
Yuan, Jing
Lu, Z Kevin
Xiong, Xiaomo
Jiang, Bin
Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China
title Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China
title_full Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China
title_fullStr Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China
title_full_unstemmed Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China
title_short Lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (NVBP) effect in China
title_sort lowering drug prices and enhancing pharmaceutical affordability: an analysis of the national volume-based procurement (nvbp) effect in china
topic Analysis
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8438819/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34518200
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005519
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