BNHI to help patients get vital medicines

BNHI officials made the suggestion in response to complaints by some patients that they could get the needed pharmaceuticals from pharmacies that declined to offer the products unless customers are willing to pay much higher prices.

The patients said some pharmacists lamented that their suppliers, the upstream pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors have jacked up prices, forcing them to take financial losses if charging prices stipulated by the bureau.

One of the patients said she had to canvass several pharmacies with prescriptions from hospitals before finding one that was willing to sell her the product Baraclude (enticavir) for hepatitis B treatment.

She said most pharmacies said they stood to lose NT$2,000 per pack unless she is willing to pay NT$6,800 without coverage under the national health insurance (NHI) system.

Unlike large hospitals that can get discounts from pharmaceutical companies due to procurement in bulk volume, many the pharmacies explained that they are unable to bargain down the supply prices due to limited purchasing amount.

Some pharmacies said their procurement prices for certain products are higher than the prices reached between the pharmaceutical producers and the insurance bureau.

A BNHI official said pharmacies may contact the bureau that can help coordinate the supply prices from pharmaceutical firms.

As for the patients, he said, they can report the pharmacies that reject their purchases. The bureau will terminate its contracts with the pharmacies that are found to have rejected NHI customers' requests in three cases.

Wang Chun-yu, director at the pharmacy of the Shinkong Hospital in Taipei City, said there are only rare cases in which patients skip the pharmacies at hospitals and instead use doctors' prescriptions to purchase the medicines for chronic diseases at outside pharmacies.

Patients may seek assistance from the regional associations of pharmacists they can help solve the problems related to supply and prices, Wang said.

Wang also suggested that patients who prefer to go to outside pharmacies find one that is more willing to help dispense needed medicines based on better interaction and long-term business relations with customers.

Under the new negotiations between the BNHI and pharmaceutical manufacturers last year, the bureau managed to slash as much as NT$15 billion in total supply price.

Price of pharmaceutical has long been a major controversial issue as pharmaceutical protest that they are unable to make any profits after the bureau slashed the price tags for a long list of products.

However, medical reform organizations in the private sector constantly complain that the BNHI has not done enough to solve the “black hole” problems related to medicine prices.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email