Ministry of Health and Welfare launches industrial and medical consultative body... Establishment of an appropriate price compensation system
Quick Look
- The Ministry of Health and Welfare is launching an industrial and medical industry consultative body to prevent disruptions in the supply of essential treatment materials, such as the disruption in the supply of artificial blood vessels for pediatric heart surgery, and discuss improving supply and demand management and price compensation system.
- The consultative body plans to prepare an improvement plan by the first half of 2024, and considering the fact that the rate of increase in the cost of treatment materials has surged to 172.2% compared to 2015, it will seek to improve the standard for calculating the upper limit amount.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
As the health insurance coverage cost of treatment materials increases by 172.2% in 2024 compared to 2015, the financial burden of health insurance is increasing, and the problem of supply shortage of essential treatment materials continues to occur. In particular, system improvement is being promoted following the 'Gore incident' in 2019, when patients were unable to receive surgery due to Gore's suspension of the supply of artificial blood vessels for pediatric heart surgery.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it will begin operating the medical device (treatment material) system improvement consultative body in which industry and medical circles participate from the 9th.
In the consultative body, the Korea Medical Device Industry Association, Korea Medical Device Cooperative, and Korea Dental Device Industry Association participate as suppliers, and the Korean Medical Association, Korean Hospital Association, and Korean Dental Association participate as consumers.
The consultative body was established in response to opinions from the field that supply shortages of essential treatment materials continue to occur and that appropriate compensation is needed for undervalued treatment materials.
In addition, the reason for the push is that the financial burden of health insurance has increased as the cost of health insurance for treatment materials has increased rapidly.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the growth rate of health insurance benefits for treatment materials in 2024 compared to 2015 is 172.2%, which is much higher than medical treatment (108.7%) or pharmaceutical expenses (90.4%).
The consultative body plans to improve the shortcomings of the overall system to prevent cases such as the so-called "Gore incident" in 2019, when the U.S. company Gore completely stopped supplying artificial blood vessels essential for pediatric heart surgery, resulting in patients not receiving surgery.
Accordingly, the consultative body will discuss smooth supply of essential medical devices, resolution of supply and demand instability, and establishment of an appropriate price compensation system by improving the standards for calculating the upper limit amount. We plan to review ways to establish an efficient management system throughout the entire process, from registration of medical devices to follow-up management, and prepare improvement plans by the first half of next year.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The consultative body will prepare a plan to improve the supply and demand management and price compensation system for treatment materials by the first half of next year.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What kind of price compensation system will the council establish in detail?
- When will the improvement in the upper limit amount calculation standard be implemented?
- Will there be smooth coordination of opinions between the medical community and industry?
