Generic pricing negotiation from Sept to protect patients

NHIS briefing for NA provisional session elaborating post-management plan

Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) plans to negotiate pricing on generics from September.

 

On July 15, NHIS submitted briefing material for the National Assembly provisional session that elaborated the outcomes of the healthcare coverage enhancement (Moon Jae-in Care) and the government’s prospective plan to lower medical expense and reinforce safety net system.

 

According to NHIS, its plan is to sign a National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursement contract with generic drugs listed without pricing negotiation to enforce quality management compliance for the protection of the patient safety.

 

And with constant rise in treatment material expenditure, the government body would analyze expenditure increase by listing types, and manage the use volume based on reasonable pricing and adjustment.

 

To lessen the medical expense burden of the people with the Moon Care, the government is also gradually expanding the coverage on eye, chest and breast ultrasound scan in the latter half of the year as the initially non-reimbursed female reproductive system ultrasound scan was covered from last February.

 

Following are other plans NHIS has for the coverage enhancement initiative; publishing production cost manual to standardize production cost calculation and improving credibility by adding more panel institutes like a national university hospital to provide production cost information; inducing improvement in medical service use behavior by providing counseling and medical service use history of multiple healthcare institute users and general hospital users for mild condition; promoting adequate use of drugs in chronic disease patients taking multiple medications via counseling visitation.

 

NHIS’ big data analysis center operating with 192 seats and 525 accounts at ten sites nationwide would be expanded to provide high-quality NHI big data for research purpose.

 

Moreover, the government would provide support on developing customized health service model and healthcare policy.

 

NHIS stated the non-contact operation format would get more prevalent within the agency amid the post-coronavirus, and infectious disease monitoring and notification system and infection control at long-term nursing hospitals would be established.