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