Reimbursement in Korea
Reimbursement for Medical Devices in Korea
Reimbursement for Pharmaceuticals/Drugs in Korea
Many medical devices and pharmaceuticals bought in Korea are reimbursed by Korea's National Health Insurance (NHI) system. Receiving government reimbursement is important for successful sales. However, some medical products do sell in Korea even without reimbursement.
Under the regulations set by Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and Health Insurance Review Agency (HIRA), medical products are supposed to be grouped with predicate products and given the lowest price among existing predicates. This is only avoidable if HIRA decides the product has significant advantages, in which case it may receive the highest price among existing predicates. If the product is completely new, HIRA may decide a new reimbursement price for it, but this will almost always be less than the reimbursement price in advanced Western countries. This situation generally does not favor novel medical products, and has recently been a source of contention in US-Korea trade talks.
PBM can devise and implement a reimbursement strategy to obtain optimal pricing for your product in Korea. PBM can help balance optimal pricing issues with time to market.
For more information on reimbursement in Korea, please see the following PBM publications and/or contact us to discuss your specific needs.
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