Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) will soon expand its coverage to include three types of cancer immunotherapies for its members.
The new scheme will be effective from 1 June 2025 and 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 new measure will involve a layout of around NT$3.295bn ($101.28m) and this will be allocated from a dedicated cancer fund each year to subsidise these cancer immunotherapies.
According to National Health Insurance Administration this decision will bring immediate benefit to at least 2,700 to 3,400 patients. The biggest beneficiaries would be NSCLC patients followed by those with TNBC and metastatic colorectal cancer.
Taiwan’s Medical Review and Pharmaceutical Benefits Division director administration Huang Yu-wen said cancer patients can expect to save about NT$1.71m ($52,564) to NT$2.47m in medical expenses annually.
According to NHI the plan to include these 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.
This decision of the NHIA aligns with international treatment guidelines of the United States National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) as a reference. Pembrolizumab and atezolizumab are two types of drugs that are being used to effectively treat NSCLC.