Taiwan to expand NHI coverage to include cancer immunotherapies

Taipei, April 24 (CNA) Taiwan's health authority on Thursday said it has plans to expand existing National Health Insurance (NHI) coverage to include three types of cancer immunotherapies, effective from June at the earliest.

The NHI coverage will include first-line treatments for non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and metastatic colorectal cancer, as well as the early stages of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said.

Roughly 2,700 to 3,400 patients are expected to immediately benefit from this new measure, with approximately NT$3.295 billion (US$101.28 million) to be allocated from a dedicated cancer fund each year to subsidize those cancer immunotherapies, according to NHIA.

Huang Yu-wen (黃育文), director of the administration's Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Benefits Division, said cancer patients can expect to save about NT$1.71 million (US$52,564) to NT$2.47 million in medical expenses each year.

The biggest beneficiary would be NSCLC patients, of which there are 1,581 to 1,930 in Taiwan, followed by those with TNBC and metastatic colorectal cancer at 826-897 and 265-587, respectively, Huang said.

The goal is to introduce this new coverage plan in June, he added.

According to the NHIA, the decision was made to align with international treatment guidelines, citing the United States' National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) as a reference.

Based on information from the NCCN, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab are two types of drugs that are being used to effectively treat NSCLC, it said.

The plan to include those three types of cancer immunotherapies into the NHI system which covers pembrolizumab and atezolizumab came after much discussion with various local medical communities and patient groups, the NHIA added.