China's insurance system to cover more anti-COVID drugs

BEIJING, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said negotiations on medicines to be covered by China's national medical insurance system concluded on Sunday, with two more anti-COVID drugs successfully included.

During the four-day negotiations, three anti-COVID drugs, including Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral combination, Azvudine tablets and a herbal granule medicine, participated, with the latter two drugs entering the list, said an NHSA official.

Paxlovid has not been included due to its high quotation, said the official, adding that under the current policy, the medical insurance system will continue to reimburse the use of Paxlovid until the end of March.

After the negotiations, there are now more than 600 kinds of drugs for treating COVID-related symptoms such as fever and cough in the catalog of medicines covered by national medical insurance system, according to the official.

In the next step, the administration will further adjust the catalog to effectively reduce the burden on patients, said the official, adding that the final results of the catalog negotiation are expected to be announced in the near future.