Government-set prices for drugs to be scrapped from June 1

       Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued a notice on issuing opinions on advancing drug price reform, deciding to abolish most government-     set drug prices from June 1. Yesterday, the reporter interviewed the public, the provincial health and Family Planning Commission Drug Administration, drug wholesale and retail enterprises, can be pleased to say that after the abolition of government pricing, the public need not worry about drug prices will rise. The public's concern stems from their ignorance of pricing. Yesterday, the reporter came to the Yiyue Pharmacy on the East Eighth Lane of Heping Road in Xi'an and saw Mr. Yang, 67, who lives in a Xinxing community, come to buy medicine, in mid April, he was found to be suffering from a lack of blood supply to his brain due to thick blood and needed daily Atorvastatin and aspirin. He bought a box of Atorvastatin calcium tablets for 49 yuan, asked if Mr. Yang knew that government pricing for most drugs would be lifted from June 1, he said he had heard about the move and was worried that prices would rise. In accordance with the circular on issuing opinions on the promotion of drug price reform, except for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances of the higher grades, which are still managed temporarily by the National Development and Reform Commission at higher ex-factory prices and higher retail prices, the government-    set prices of other drugs have been abolished, higher retail price limit management is no longer implemented, in accordance with the principle of classification management, through different ways to form prices from the market. The government set price that was removed on June 1 was the higher retail price, which in real life would be lower than the higher retail price. Mr. Yang spent 49 yuan on Atorvastatin calcium tablets, and the government's higher retail price was 54 yuan per box, the public worried that after the government price cancellation, the medicine price will rise is not familiar to the price policy, does not understand. This reporter noticed that the retail price of children's cold granules in drugstores was 89 yuan per box, and the government's higher price limit was 11 yuan per box. There will be no fluctuation in the prices of drugs in hospitals. Most of the time, people buy drugs in public hospitals. Will there be any change in the prices of drugs in public hospitals after June 1? Yesterday, reporters interviewed Fan Haitao, deputy director of the Pharmaceutical Administration Department of the Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission. He said that the drug prices of all public medical institutions in our province are the prices of drugs purchased through centralized bidding by the pharmaceutical government. It follows three principles, the price of drugs purchased by centralized bidding in our province is not higher than the higher retail limit price of the country, higher than the historical bid price of drugs, and not higher than the bid price of the drugs in the surrounding provinces. The last centralized bidding for drugs was in 2011, the 15,281 products were awarded to medical institutions above the county level, and the winning bid price was 33.44% lower than the national higher retail price. For example, the price set by the government for the GINKGO leaf tablets produced by Shenzhen Haiwang Pharmaceutical Company, which is commonly used by middle-aged and elderly people, is 25.5 yuan. The current retail price is 20.9 yuan. The price for the centralized bidding and purchasing of drugs in our province is 9.18 yuan, it is not hard to see that the government-    set price that will be cancelled is like "ceiling" , no matter is bidding price, or retail price can not be higher than the government-set price. So after June 1st, there will be no fluctuation in drug prices in public hospitals. Cancellation of pricing has become the general trend. Yesterday, the reporter also interviewed Lan Jun, General Manager of Shaanxi Huayuan Pharmaceutical Group. Their company has more than 50 chain pharmacies, and 90 percent of the drug prices are lower than the government-set prices, and much lower than the government-set prices, government-set prices are like the ceiling, and drug prices in pharmacies are not higher than that. Feng Yong, general manager of Chang 'an pharmaceutical company in Xi'an, said that at present, competition among drugstores is very fierce. Drug prices are basically regulated by the market, and higher retail price limits are increasingly less and less effective in regulating drug prices in drugstores, it is a historical necessity that the majority of government-set prices for pharmaceuticals will be abolished as of June 1. Since 2000, the competent price department has implemented the government-guided price (higher retail price limit) management for the drugs in the medical insurance catalogue and the special drugs outside the catalogue. With the rapid development of the drug market, the market competition is more and more full, so that the market plays a decisive role in the price formation, has become the general trend.