Drugstores are prohibited from selling health care products.

Medicines Network, July 25, 20 City Medical Insurance Bureau issued a letter requesting designated drugstores to remove health products, daily necessities, etc., and not to put them on sale.

On July 23, the Beijing News reported that since this year, many medical insurance departments have requested designated drug stores Off-Shelf health care food and other non-medical products by means of document notification, agreement agreement, oral notification, conference notification, etc. According to the incomplete statistics of China Nutrition and Health Food Association, at present, about 20 cities'health insurance departments explicitly prohibit the placement and sale of health food in designated pharmacies by publicly issuing documents or by agreement.

For example: Recently, the Medical Insurance Bureau of Yuanping City of Shanxi Province held a special meeting on the rectification of fixed-point retail pharmacies in the meeting room of the Bureau, requiring all fixed-point retail pharmacies not to display commodities such as daily necessities; if the definition is unclear, all the commodities that are not allowed to be placed are dealt with off the shelves. And after June 22, no promotion or donation of non-pharmaceuticals is allowed. In May, Ganzhou Medical Security Bureau issued a circular requiring all designated retail drugstores to clean up the prohibited non-pharmaceutical commodities off the shelves in a timely manner. According to the requirements of the circular, the business service scope of the designated retail pharmacies of medical insurance is limited to drugs, medical devices, disinfection products and so on within the scope approved by the Pharmaceutical Business License. It is forbidden to display and sell non-pharmaceutical commodities such as daily department stores, fitness equipment, cosmetics and food in designated retail pharmacies, including prizes and promotional items in any form. In April, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, clearly pointed out that it was forbidden to place and operate food, daily department stores, fitness equipment, cosmetics, small household appliances and other commodities. Huoqiu County, Anhui Province, decided to carry out a special action to standardize the operation of designated retail pharmacies, requiring designated retail pharmacies to remove all non-medical items such as cosmetics and daily necessities before April 16. 

Since September of last year, the State Medical Insurance Bureau has launched a nationwide campaign to combat fraud in obtaining medical insurance funds. In this wave of operations, tens of thousands of medical institutions were inspected and punished. According to the data disclosed by the State Medical Insurance Bureau, more than 30,000 hospitals and pharmacies were investigated and punished from September to the end of November, and more than 500 million yuan of medical insurance fund was recovered. In this regard, the State Medical Insurance Bureau also held a special press conference, deployed nationwide special operations to carry out self-examination and "look back" work, and established a "zero tolerance" mechanism. At the beginning of this year, the "Notice on the Supervision of Medical Security Funds in 2019" (hereinafter referred to as "Notice") was issued, requiring relevant departments to intensify their efforts, consolidate the high-pressure situation and continue to do a good job in the supervision of Medical Security Funds in 2019.

In fact, there is no legal prohibition against the placement of non-pharmaceutical products such as daily necessities in designated pharmacies. Hunan Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security has responded in this regard, "Medical insurance agreement pharmacies can not operate'non-drug'" is lack of legal basis, but also beyond the scope of responsibility of the medical insurance department. In April last year, the Sichuan Medical Insurance Bureau responded to the suggestion submitted by the association that the pharmacies under the medical insurance agreement should operate in accordance with the business scope registered by the industrial and commercial departments and shorten the filing time of the medical insurance agencies. "Retail pharmacies should not be displayed." There is no legal and administrative basis for the requirement of "and sale of cosmetics, food and daily necessities other than pharmaceuticals". The revised model service agreement for retail pharmacies is to be issued to the city (state) for unified implementation throughout the province, requiring the cancellation of relevant restrictive provisions and allowing retail pharmacies to operate in accordance with the business scope registered by the industrial and commercial departments.