Table 1. Reimbursement schemes of representative Asian countries.
| Country/SAR | Reimbursement system | National essential drug list | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | 1. | SSS: Private employees and the self-employed. | Yes |
| 2. | UCS: A basic governmental coverage. | ||
| Items 1 and 2 cover cancer treatment in ED list, with extra coverage for a few non-ED drugs. | |||
| 3. | CSMBS: Expands the coverage to civil servants and their family, including some non-ED treatments. | ||
| Singapore | MediShield Life is a basic, government-administered, health insurance plan that covers cancer treatment. Singaporean individuals have to pay a premium from their Medisave savings to be covered by a compulsory basic health insurance scheme. Subsidies and financial assistance are provided for drugs included in the SDL and MAF. MAF is a financial assistance scheme to help pay for high-cost drugs that are not on the SDL, with co-payment by patients. However, the amount and financial assistance given depend on the household income. | Yes: SDL [8] | |
| Hong Kong SAR | Government coverage for all drugs under the standard formulary. The public hospital drug formulary also includes drugs not under government coverage, i.e., SFI. Financial sponsorship is available for some expensive SFI drugs proportional to the patient’s whole family income and assets via a “safety net” (the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund). | Yes: Standard formulary/Generic drugs and special drugs under indicated conditions are considered equivalent to essential drug list [9] | |
| Japan | Universal health insurance system covers 70%–90% of medical costs. Capped payments for higher health expenditure, depending on a policyholder’s income. | Yes | |
| Korea | Natural health insurance system covers 95% of anticancer drugs approved by HIRA. Co-payments for drugs on the national insurance list and Positive List Scheme are kept at a maximum of 5% for patients with cancer. Risk sharing agreement is also actively applied for partially reimbursed drugs. | Yes: national insurance list is considered as equivalent to essential drug list | |
| Taiwan | National health insurance covers medical expenses for cancer treatment. Co-payment is < 10% if a citizen has a cancer diagnosis. | Yes | |
SAR = special administrative region; SSS = Social Security Scheme; UCS = Universal Coverage Scheme; ED = essential drug; CSMBS = Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme; SDL = Standard Drug List; MAF = Medication Assistance Fund; SFI = self-financed item; HIRA = Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service.