NHI DRUG PRICEREVISIONS IN JAPAN

Japan's biennial National Health Insur-ance price revisions - which generally means a reduction in NHI drug reimbursement prices in response to industry discounts to medical institutions - are scheduled for April 1. Pharmaceutical executives, both Japanese and foreign, have been waiting with some trepidation for this next round of official price revisions because they will be based on the radically new system of calculations approved by the government last year.

Although the price revisions are not formally announced until mid-March, the Marketletter has learned that the Chuikyo, the central advisory council to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, had internally finalized its recommendations for price revisions on December 20, 1991. This information was obtained in an interview with Kiichi Tsunematsu, managing director of Yakugyo Keizai Kenkyusho, a pharmaceutical industry research institute with close ties to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

In additiion, Mr Tsunematsu stressed that the Chuikyo had determined that overall revisions in health care expenditures should be implemented by the Ministry in April. These, he said, would include increases in remuneration for services that would average 5%, with fees rising by 5.4% for medical doctors, 2.7% for dentists and 1.9% for pharmacists. Also included in the 5% is a 2% charge to improve the working conditions of nurses. These increases are now under study by the Japan Medical Association, which is expected to reach a consensus for its response in mid-February.