| ALL of China's 80,000 pharmacies _ whether State or privately-owned _ may
apply to become designated suppliers under the medicare insurance reform. Wu Ritu,
director of the Medical Insurance Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social
Security, said: Once they are chosen to serve as designated druggists under the new
system, they can expect more business from customers who can get their medical bills
reimbursed, in whole or in part, from the Medicare Insurance Fund.
Reform of the medicare system was launched earlier this year. The expanded network,
designed to cover all urban employees, is scheduled to be implemented by year-end.
As soon as the pharmacies meet the stipulated requirements, they are qualified to
apply. It is then up to local bureaux to decide how many of them may be designated, said
Chen Jinfu, another official in the Medical Insurance Department.
The reform will bring greater convenience for patients and increase competition among
pharmacies, Wu added.
Bringing the pharmacies into the insurance network is aimed at spurring their
development, said Zhao Lin, director of the drug administration department at Beijing
Health Bureau.
There are 800 State-owned, joint stock and privately-run pharmacies in Beijing.
The number has increased rapidly since 1997, when a key project of the medicare reform
was launched _ to separate the accounts for clinical treatment from that of prescribed
medicines. At the beginning of 1997, there were only 500 pharmacies in the city, Zhao
said.
The pharmacies applying to be designated should first obtain business licences and
qualification certificates for medicine trade, and pass the inspection by the price
department, Chen said.
The pharmacies should open around the clock. There should always be at least one
pharmacist on duty, who has gone through drug administration-sponsored training.
Once the pharmacies get approval from the local bureaux of labour and social security
in charge of the medicare insurance, they should sign one-year contracts with them.
The approved pharmacies are required to deliver regular reports on their service to the
bureaux. Examination of their qualifications will be held annually, Wu said.
Approved items of medicine are listed in two catalogues.
Those in the first catalogue are widely used in clinical treatment and are relatively
lower priced. The cost of these medicines will be reimbursed by the medicare insurance
fund. This part of the list applies nationally and can not be altered by local bureaux.
Those listed under the second catalogue are generally more expensive. Local bureaux are
authorized to modify the list according to the levels of local economic development and
medical treatment. A certain amount of these medicines' cost will be carried by the
patients. |
