Last July, National Taiwan University Hospital celebrated the recovery of a young girl with blood cancer who was the first patient in Taiwan to be treated with CAR-T cell therapy. At that time, the girl’s family had to sell their house to afford the expensive medical cost of over 10 million NT dollars. Yesterday, at the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee, many lawmakers expressed concerns over the high cost of regenerative medicine and how it might be out of reach for disadvantaged people. Minister of Health and Welfare Shih-chung Chen revealed that CAR-T therapy is being prepared to be included in the National Health Insurance system. The National Health Insurance Administration has completed the evaluation of the medical technology and will discuss with the manufacturers to include it temporarily in the system. It is expected that dozens of patients will benefit from this measure.
Yuh-Wen Huang, the head of the Medical Review and Medicinal Material Division of the National Health Insurance Administration, stated that the Food and Drug Administration has approved CAR-T cell therapy for two indications: “acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children under 18 years old and young adult patients under 25 years old,” and “diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that has relapsed or is refractory after two or more lines of systemic therapy.” It is estimated that there are dozens of eligible patients in Taiwan, and the medical technology evaluation report has been completed, and the procedure to include the new drug in the National Health Insurance system is about to begin.
Huang Yu-wen pointed out that CAR-T therapy is expensive, with a cost of over NT$10 million for a single treatment course due to the strict requirements for cell culture technology, transportation conditions, and hospital treatment environment. Although the price is high, there have been successful cases of treatment abroad, with some patients remaining relapse-free for over a decade, possibly requiring only one treatment in a lifetime.
CAR-T therapy is an innovative drug, and according to Huang Yu-wen, it is applicable to the temporary payment policy recently launched by the National Health Insurance Administration, provided that the manufacturer agrees. The two parties must discuss a time point for evaluating the effectiveness, and the decision to continue payment will be based on its outcome. The National Health Insurance Administration also needs to discuss acceptable quantity and price ranges with the manufacturer, and then present the payment scope to an expert meeting for approval. If approved, it will be included in the National Health Insurance payment.
As regenerative medicine is costly, many people are concerned about relevant insurance coverage. Democratic Progressive Party legislator Hong Shen-han stated that the regenerative medicine-related bill is expected to pass during this legislative session, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare should work with the Financial Supervisory Commission and private insurance companies to plan insurance designs that will substantially assist the public to avoid complex information or any oversight. Xue Rui-yuan expressed agreement and promised to promptly contact relevant departments for further discussion.
文章出處：https://udn.com/news/story/7266/7044801