Analysis: China’s Costly Drug Plan Puts Insurers Under Pressure

China has rolled out a long-awaited catalog of innovative drugs for commercial health insurance, aiming to expand access to high-cost treatments. But whether insurers can absorb the burden remains uncertain.

The new list, effective Jan. 1, covers 19 drugs for conditions including cancer, rare diseases and Alzheimer’s. It sits outside China’s government-run basic health insurance system and is intended to shift part of the cost of expensive therapies to commercial insurers, primarily through state-backed supplementary insurance plans known as “Huiminbao.”