If the hospital says a nationally negotiated yibao drug is out of stock or not stocked, have the doctor write a prescription and buy it at a dual-channel designated pharmacy. It is still reimbursed under the rules

If the hospital says a nationally negotiated drug is out of stock or not stocked, that does not mean the drug cannot be reimbursed. If the drug is in this province's dual channel, have the doctor write the prescription as usual and buy it at a dual-channel designated pharmacy. The reimbursement policy is the same as buying it at the hospital. Under the national document, the hospital also must not delay stocking it on the grounds of the yibao (basic medical insurance) total, or of the share of revenue from drugs.

Cost

No money. You need the doctor to write a prescription, and then a trip to the designated pharmacy. Some places require a drug-eligibility confirmation first.

Benefit

A negotiated drug is a drug the National Healthcare Security Administration priced with the manufacturer and then put in the yibao catalog. A 2021 policy explainer from the administration says the catalog is adjusted once a year, and the sequence became "into yibao first, and into the hospital after," so some negotiated drugs are "hard to get into the hospital." For that, the National Healthcare Security Administration and the National Health Commission issued Yi Bao Fa [2021] No. 28. The document says the dual channel is "a mechanism that supplies negotiated drugs through designated medical institutions and designated retail pharmacies" and "brings them into yibao payment at the same time." For a drug in the dual channel, "designated medical institutions and designated retail pharmacies apply a unified payment policy." Buying at a pharmacy and buying at a hospital follow the same reimbursement rules. Which drugs are included is, in principle, set by the provincial yibao department. Which pharmacies are included, the yibao department must "disclose to the public promptly and on its own initiative." The prescription is sent to the pharmacy through the prescription-transfer center in the yibao system, and the requirement is to "keep electronic prescriptions moving smoothly." In September of that year, Yi Bao Han [2021] No. 182 required that, for a negotiated drug the hospital cannot stock for the moment, the hospital "raise access to the drug through the dual channel and similar routes." Negotiated drugs used appropriately are listed separately and are not counted in the hospital's drug-share assessment. The document also says "the landing of negotiated drugs must not be affected on the grounds of a yibao total cap, a limit on how many drugs are in the institution's formulary, the drug-revenue share, or similar reasons." It also required that, before the end of November 2021, each prefecture-level city have at least 1 dual-channel retail pharmacy. The notice on the 2025 edition of the yibao drug catalog (Yi Bao Fa [2025] No. 33) repeats that sentence, "must not, on those grounds." The notice also says that, in principle, a negotiated drug must not be taken out of the dual channel just because it has been moved into the regular catalog. Designated pharmacies that dispense dual-channel drugs "must all receive this kind of prescription through the electronic prescription center." The new catalog takes effect on January (1) 1, 2026 (nationwide, as of October 2026).

Notes

The method has these steps. First, ask the doctor whether this drug is a dual-channel drug in this province, and whether a prescription can be written. The prescription usually goes out as an electronic prescription in the yibao system. Second, find which pharmacy can sell it. Each provincial healthcare security bureau publishes the drug list and the pharmacy list, and you can also call the local yibao department and ask. The national yibao service app opened a search, in 2021, for institutions that stock negotiated drugs. Third, take your yibao card, or the electronic yibao certificate, and buy it. The pharmacy has to check that the person on the prescription and the person taking the drug are the same person. Fourth, ask the reimbursement share, whether it counts as an outpatient chronic or special disease, and whether it can be paid on its own. All of that is set locally. Not every negotiated drug is in the dual channel. A drug that is not can be bought only at the hospital. Whether a purchase elsewhere can be settled directly, the document only says "advance it prudently." Ask before you set out. For how outpatient chronic and special diseases are recognized, and for settlement away from home, see Section 16, item 2 (recognition of outpatient chronic and special diseases). The benefit magnitude is set at large, by judgment: no national document was found that says how much a single patient can be reimbursed. The policy explainer says the focus of what is brought into the dual channel is drugs that are "high in clinical value, urgent in demand, and high in cost." Over a course of treatment, the gap between paying yourself and being reimbursed is estimated at the level of tens of thousands of yuan. The beneficiary is mainly you and your family.

Sources · 4

1. 国家医保局、国家卫生健康委 (2021). 关于建立完善国家医保谈判药品“双通道”管理机制的指导意见（医保发〔2021〕28 号，第一、二、四、五、六条）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-05/10/content_5…
2. 国家医保局 (2021). 《关于建立完善国家医保谈判药品“双通道”管理机制的指导意见》政策解读. gov.cn/zhengce/2021-05/10/content_5605596.htm
3. 国家医疗保障局、国家卫生健康委 (2021). 关于适应国家医保谈判常态化持续做好谈判药品落地工作的通知（医保函〔2021〕182 号，第二、三、五条）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2021-09/11/content_5…
4. 国家医保局、人力资源社会保障部 (2025). 关于印发《国家基本医疗保险、生育保险和工伤保险药品目录》以及《商业健康保险创新药品目录》（2025年）的通知（医保发〔2025〕33 号，第一部分）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202512/content_70505…