Improvement of reimbursement standards for Prolia is needed

Bong-min Jeon, a member of People Power Party pointed out limited standards and emphasized the need for improvement

It would consider clinical usefulness, cost effectiveness, financial requirements, etc.

The government has announced that it will comprehensively review the reimbursement standards for osteoporosis treatments such as 'Prolia (Denosumab)'.

 

The MOHW expanded Prolia, which was used as a second-line treatment for osteoporosis last year, as a first-line treatment, and recognized reimbursement even if continuous administration is necessary.

 

However, Bong-min Jeon, a member of People Power Party, pointed out that the governement should actively take steps from checking for osteoporosis to creating a continuous treatment environment and establishing an integrated treatment system for preventing fractures in stages at the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee's national audit held on the 7th.

 

The MOHW replied, "We will comprehensively consider and review the principles of insurance reimbursement, such as clinical usefulness, cost effectiveness, and financial requirements," in relation to the improvement of the osteoporosis treatment reimbursement standards that he argued through a written questionnaire on the 15th.

 

Currently, osteoporosis treatment is based on the Pharmaceutical Reimbursement Listing Standard and Method’s General Principles and drug-specific reimbursement standards, and when measuring bone density, within 3 years of confirmation of osteoporotic fracture, and within 1 year of bone density measurement T-score below -2.5 Reimbursement is recognized for 1 year.

 

The MOHW said that the standards were continuously expanded by referring to textbooks, guidelines, and academic opinions.

 

It explained that the duration of administration of the osteoporosis treatment is set differently according to the measurement of bone density and the presence of osteoporotic fractures, and that patients with low bone density measurements through follow-up tests are continuously administered regardless of the duration.