China has expanded its rare disease catalog to 207 conditions after including nearly 100 rare disease drugs in its medical insurance scheme, covering 42 types of rare diseases, according to information released at the 2025 China Conference on Rare Diseases, which concluded on Sunday. Due to their low incidence, small patient populations, and high research and development costs, rare diseases have received limited attention in the healthcare field. Through coordinated inter-agency efforts, China has accelerated the development of a system for the prevention and treatment of such diseases, making drugs more accessible and affordable for the patients.
In 2024, China's medical insurance fund allocated 8.6 billion yuan (about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars) to include rare disease drugs in its coverage, accounting for about 7.7 percent of total payments.
On average, medical insurance reduces the financial burden for each rare disease patient by approximately 5,500 yuan (about 773.32 U.S. dollars).
At the same time, a "dual-channel" supply mechanism for rare disease drugs has been implemented in hospitals and pharmacies, and rare diseases have been included in the coverage for the category of outpatient chronic special diseases.
"We recognize that accessing rare disease drugs in hospitals can be challenging due to the relatively small patient population. Therefore, on one hand, we are promoting the inclusion of drugs from the catalog into hospitals. On the other hand, we have also established a dual-channel supply mechanism, allowing patients to purchase rare disease drugs at pharmacies and receive the same reimbursement policies as those for prescriptions issued by hospitals. At the same time, for medical healthcare insurance fund, given that many rare diseases require long-term medication and hospitalization isn't feasible each time, we are steadily enhancing the reimbursement levels for outpatient chronic special diseases based on the existing coverage for major illnesses. The reimbursement rates for these outpatient treatments will often align with those for inpatient care," said Huang Xinyu, an official of the National Healthcare Security Administration.
China expands medical insurance coverage against rare diseases
