On February 21, the Beijing Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau, together with the Municipal Health Commission and the municipal human resources and Social Security Bureau, issued the notice on regulating the price adjustment of some medical service items (hereinafter referred to as the notice), which regulated the price adjustment of 63 medical service items, including 53 assisted reproductive technology items such as in vitro fertilization and embryo culture. At the same time, the notice pointed out that in order to implement active fertility support measures, 16 assisted reproductive technology projects such as intrauterine artificial insemination, embryo transfer and sperm optimal treatment, which are common in outpatient treatment, were included in the category a reimbursement scope of medical insurance by organizing expert demonstration and on the basis of controllable expenses and ensuring the affordability of medical insurance fund. The new policy will be officially implemented on March 26.
Affected by this news, in the afternoon of that day, the share prices of many relevant listed companies rose sharply, including Honz Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd(300086) and Dajia Weikang.
Insiders told the reporter of Securities Daily that the policy is expected to be rolled out throughout the country in the future.
first entry medical insurance
In recent years, with the intensive introduction of supporting policies such as two children and three children, the population problem has continued to be highly concerned by the state. The inclusion of assisted reproductive technology in medical insurance will give more protection to the people who want to have children most.
"The release of this policy shows the state's determination to vigorously encourage fertility." Liao Xi, President of Beijing Jiayuan hospital, a medical institution of assisted reproduction (IVF) and a designated unit of medical insurance, told reporters excitedly. "People who try assisted reproductive technology are those who have a strong desire to give birth. There is a characteristic of assisted reproductive technology: the success rate is limited, and those who fail need to continue to try, but such repeated treatment will increase the economic burden of patients. The reason why the state has not included assisted reproductive technology projects in medical insurance before is also due to the high cost. Yes Lbx Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock Company(603883) This is a good welfare, which can reduce the burden of Lbx Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock Company(603883) , increase their chances of trying assisted reproduction and increase the successful fertility rate. "
On February 21, according to the research report released by Ping An Securities, Beijing did not reduce the price after 16 assisted reproductive projects were included in the medical insurance: 16 projects included in the medical insurance include in vitro fertilization, embryo culture, blastocyst culture and so on. Two of them are IUI (artificial insemination), one is second-generation IVF (test tube baby), three are third-generation IVF, and the rest are embryo storage and other projects.
"Through comparison, we found that the prices of these 16 items have not changed since they were included in the medical insurance. We believe that assisted reproduction reflects the value of doctors' technology and services, so the risk of price reduction for the core technical services is limited. At present, the average cost of IVF in China is about 35000 yuan to 45000 yuan (excluding the third generation) , the medical insurance will cover about 8000 yuan to 11000 yuan. Recently, the state has made frequent policies to encourage fertility. We believe that assisted reproduction projects are expected to include medical insurance payment in more areas in the future. " Ping An Securities pointed out.
But will there be more follow-up after Beijing brings assisted reproduction into medical insurance reimbursement?
A deputy to the National People's Congress once put forward "suggestions on incorporating the adjuvant treatment of 'infertility' into the national medical insurance to improve population growth". In this regard, on September 15, 2021, the State Medical Security Administration said in the reply of the state medical security administration to the recommendation No. 5581 of the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress that the medical insurance department has included the qualified fertility support drugs bromocriptine, triptorelin, clomiphene and other ovulation promoting drugs in the scope of payment. At the same time, in terms of diagnosis and treatment projects, all localities will be guided to gradually incorporate the technologically mature, safe, reliable and cost controllable therapeutic assisted reproductive technology that can be borne by medical insurance into the scope of medical insurance payment according to procedures based on the positioning of "ensuring basic" and on the basis of scientific calculation and full demonstration.
In addition, this year, some netizens proposed to "request infertility to be included in medical insurance and assisted reproduction to be included in medical insurance" on the People.Cn Co.Ltd(603000) leadership message board, Henan Medical Security Bureau responded: "under the current situation, the basic medical insurance system is mainly based on providing basic medical security for the masses, focusing on meeting basic medical needs, and has not been able to expand the payment scope to assisted reproductive projects."
permeability is expected to increase
According to Sullivan, the proportion of infertile people in China will reach 18% by 2023. According to the prospectus released by Jinxin medical, a Hong Kong listed company, there were about 47.7 million infertile couples in China in 2017, which is expected to increase to about 56.2 million in 2023. In 2017, about 527000 patients received assisted reproductive services in China, which is expected to increase to about 956000 in 2023, with a CAGR of 10.4%.
Compared with the United States, the penetration rate of assisted reproductive technology in China is low.
In this regard, "At present, the penetration rate of China's assisted reproductive industry is low, only about 8% (more than 30% in the United States)," Bao Jingang, a researcher at private placement network, told our reporter , one of the main reasons is the high cost. Taking IVF as an example, the average price of a single cycle is about 35000 yuan. The proportion of women under the age of 35 doing more than one cycle is 43%, but the corresponding proportion of women aged 35 to 39 is 61%, and the price of two cycles is 70000 yuan, which is high. If the assisted reproduction project is included in the medical insurance, it can reduce the economic pressure of patients and enhance their willingness to treat. "
Data show that on February 21, 35 of the 37 assisted reproduction concept stocks rose. Among them, Dajia health, Honz Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd(300086) , Hangzhou Century Co.Ltd(300078) , Hubei Goto Biopharm Co.Ltd(300966) , Everjoy Health Group Co.Ltd(002162) , Hanshang Group Co.Ltd(600774) increased by more than 10%.
In this regard, Li Yifeng, chief researcher of Guangzhou pebble investment pharmaceutical industry, told reporters that after assisted reproduction is incorporated into the medical insurance system, the increase of industry penetration is expected to accelerate. From the supply side, the market share of private hospitals is only 10.71%. As the demand increases, it will promote the expansion of the whole assisted reproduction market. Public hospitals have limited capacity, and subsequent private hospitals are expected to usher in a window period, which can attract customers through value-added services. From the perspective of industrial chain, the upstream of auxiliary appreciation - medical machinery may become a golden track.
