Planned cap on medical device costs scrappedQUALITY CONCERNS: The medical sector said that the policy would keep high-quality gear from entering the market and ignored differences between clinicsStaff writer, with CNAThe government on Friday scrapped a plan to cap patient’s out-of-pocket expenses for some medical devices, saying that it would instead focus on offering price comparisons and using non-legislative mechanisms to “persuade” healthcare providers who charge significantly more than industry norms to change their pricing. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s name and logo are pictured outside its Taipei headquarters in an undated photograph. The representatives also said that it would mainly benefit private insurance companies, saving them from high reimbursement costs. Hospitals and clinics whose prices exceed those norms would not be allowed to log their products on the NHIA’s medical device comparison Web site, he said. The NHIA would also “communicate with” and try to “persuade” institutions with excessively high prices to offer more affordable prices, he said.

Source: Taipei Times July 25, 2020 15:56 UTC