The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday announced that it would be relaxing subsidy payout policies for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) medication, to go into effect as soon as May.
The policy loosening would result in annual National Health Insurance (NHI) payouts for SMA medication reaching NT$3.8 billion (US$120.5 million), the ministry said.
The policy change would honor the memory of the late human rights lawyer Chen Chun-han (陳俊翰), who had SMA, it said.
Photo: CNA
Chen had campaigned to have SMA medications included under NHI payouts.
Pharmaceutical companies had lobbied for the NHI program to approve payouts for conditions recognized by the Food and Drug Administration, National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said.
The companies protested against standing regulations and said there was no direct correlation between patients’ Revised Upper Limb Module (RULM) scale scores and their treatment.
Standing regulations state that patients should have a score equal to or greater than 15 on the RULM scale before receiving treatment.
The nation has 400 registered SMA patients, 150 of whom were eligible for treatment prior to relaxing the regulations, Shih said, adding that all patients would be eligible for treatment after the changes.
Each SMA patient is expected to spend NT$7 million on medical fees per year, he said.
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