Taiwan expands health insurance coverage for lipid-lowering drugs

Taiwan's National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) has expanded coverage for lipid-lowering medications effective September 1. The policy adjustment aims to align with the ‘2025 Taiwan Lipid Management Clinical Pathway Consensus’ and is expected to benefit between approximately 1 million and 1.12 million patients.

The new standards lower the threshold for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) treatment across various risk levels. For extremely high-risk groups, the coverage threshold moves from 70 mg/dL to 55 mg/dL, with a treatment goal of staying below 55 mg/dL. For the lowest-risk groups, the threshold is adjusted from 190 mg/dL to 160 mg/dL.

In addition to lipid management, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced several other healthcare updates, including increased subsidies for IVF treatments, expanded free fluoride application for children, and the inclusion of new medications for rare diseases such as Fabhalta and Livmarli.