2018 Volume 23 Issue 1 Pages 3-10
Annual medical expenditure in Japan is continuously increasing. This may be caused by technology advancement as well as population ageing. Some new and high cost technologies, including new drugs, have been introduced. In order to balance technology advancement with medical expenditure, economic evaluation of new technologies is one way to approach the issue. In 2016 a pilot program stared at the Central Social Insurance Medical Council to evaluate cost effectiveness of some drugs and medical devices. In the pilot program, companies of selected products were asked to submit primary data and analyses to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The ministry, together with some experts, reviewed the submitted data and re-analyzed if necessary. After these assessment process, not only cost effectiveness of each product, but also ethical or social aspects are considered in the appraisal phase. Finally results will be used to adjust reimbursement prices in the 2018 price revision. In the council, some issues toward full implementation of the new system will be discussed by 2019.
