South Korea's spending on generic drugs surged approximately 44% over the past three years, exceeding 12 trillion won ($8.8 billion), according to government data. The expanding share of generics is affecting the national health insurance system's finances and overall drug pricing policy, analysts say.
The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) released its "2024 Reimbursed Drug Spending Report" on Friday, showing that health insurance drug expenditures reached 27.66 trillion won last year, up 5.6% from a year earlier. The share of drug costs relative to total medical expenses of 116.24 trillion won also rose to 23.8%, indicating a growing burden from pharmaceutical spending.
