The State Council of China recently formed the new National Medical Security Administration to ensure that universal health coverage responds to the health needs of all people in China. The Health Futures program is supporting this effort by focusing on health finance as a means to improve access to quality healthcare at an affordable price.
The Health Finance Forum took place at the School of Management of Fudan University on December 1 and December 2. More than four hundred participants attended the forum. This year’s forum focused on health insurance reform and health payment innovation, including: sharing international and domestic best practices, health payment innovations and health service system upgrades, innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, commercial insurance innovations, the use of technology to empower reforms.
Seventy one distinguished speakers were invited to share at the forum. Speakers from near and far, including experts and key opinion leaders in health and health insurance policy, research, and academic institutions, as well as executives from health service providers, pharmaceutical, commercial health insurance, and health technology companies, all joined together to share best practices and insights on health financing and its development and collaboration opportunities across industries.
As participants noted during the Forum, health insurance reforms and innovations in health payments require multidisciplinary efforts at both public and private levels. Discussions around successful experiences, challenges, and potential solutions are essential to create future health policies and services. The forum enhanced the awareness of health finance innovations in the health sector and also among the public.
During the forum, the research team of the Health Futures program in China launched the Chinese report entitled Improving Orphan Drug Accessibility in China. The report was a joint effort by our China team and Fudan University Health Finance Research Institute. The report revealed the current situation of the accessibility of orphan drugs in China. It provided insightful suggestions to improve the healthcare coverage for rare disease patients by analyzing the pioneering funding models in China and other regions. The report attracted strong attention among the audience and the media.
Speakers attending the Forum included:
- Dinesh Nair, Senior Health Specialist of World Bank
- Jin Fang, Deputy Secretary General of China Development Research Foundation
- Chunlin Jin, Director of Shanghai Health Development Research Center
- Eduardo P. Banzon, Principal Health Specialist of Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department of Asian Development Bank
- Jui-fen Rachel Lu, Director of International Health Economics Association, Executive Director of Taiwan Health Economics Association
- Kun Zhao, Director of the Health Technology Assessment Division of China National Health Development Research Center
- Jie Chen, Director of Health Technology Assessment Research Center of Fudan University
The forum received more than fifty media exposures on the internet, WeChat articles, newspapers, and TV new report. Here, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to all supporters of the Forum: Shanghai Service Federation, Fudan University Schhol of Management, Fudan University School of Public Health, IFENG Fiance Institute, Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Merck China & Co. Inc. (China), Roche (China) Co. Ltd., RDPAC China, MediTrust Health, Beijing Genomics Institute, Youhujia, ZhongAn Technology, ZeChao, and KPMG China.