Anaphylaxis Testing and Chronic Pain Treatment Costs Drop Sharply... Parkinson's Disease Medication Also Covered by Health Insurance

Anaphylaxis Diagnostic Test Fee Reduced from 210,000 KRW to 10,000 KRW, 'Daenoe Undong Picholchijageuk' Procedure Fee Halved
New Glaucoma and Parkinson's Drugs Also Newly Covered by Health Insurance... Expanded Support for Pregnancy and Childbirth Medical Expenses from Next Year

This is unrelated to the article. Photo courtesy of Korea University Ansan Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The cost of tests used to diagnose severe allergic diseases such as 'anaphylaxis' will be significantly reduced, and health insurance coverage will be applied to the treatment of chronic and neurogenic pain, cutting treatment costs by half. Additionally, drugs used to treat glaucoma and Parkinson's disease will newly receive health insurance coverage, and from next year, support for pregnancy and childbirth medical expenses will also be expanded.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare held the 2nd Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee (HIPS) of 2021 on the 29th and finalized the plan to promote health insurance coverage based on these contents.

First, starting from March, health insurance will be applied to allergy disease tests and treatment costs, which were previously non-reimbursable, as well as to the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain. Accordingly, the cost of the 'tryptase' test, which diagnoses anaphylaxis caused by mast cells in allergic reactions, will be drastically reduced from the existing 215,000 KRW to 12,000 KRW.

The cost of the 'autologous serum skin test' for diagnosing autoimmune urticaria will also decrease from 29,000 KRW to 9,000 KRW.

The exercise-induced test, which examines lung function, pulse, blood pressure, and systemic symptoms such as asthma before and after exercise, will be reduced from 134,000 KRW to 67,000 KRW, and the 'drug desensitization therapy,' which gradually increases the dose of drugs for patients with drug allergies, will require only 40,000 KRW instead of the previous 208,000 KRW.

Also, the expensive procedure called 'cerebral motor cortex stimulation,' used for patients with central and neurogenic chronic pain whose symptoms do not improve despite long-term drug treatment, will be subject to preliminary reimbursement, reducing the cost burden from 20 million KRW to 9.56 million KRW for hospitalized patients.

Support for pregnancy and childbirth-related medical expenses will also be expanded. From 2022, the support amount for pregnancy with one child will increase from the current 600,000 KRW to 1,000,000 KRW, and for multiple pregnancies, from 1,000,000 KRW to 1,400,000 KRW, with the usage period extended from 1 year to 2 years. An additional 200,000 KRW will be provided for those residing in areas vulnerable to childbirth.

From February, health insurance coverage will be applied to two new drugs: 'Aiberis Eye Drops 0.002%' for glaucoma treatment and 'Equipina Film-Coated Tablets 50mg' for Parkinson's disease treatment.

Accordingly, the annual medication cost burden for patients using Aiberis Eye Drops 0.002% will decrease from 140,000 KRW to about 33,000 KRW, and for Equipina Film-Coated Tablets 50mg, from 800,000 KRW to about 80,000 KRW, improving accessibility to new drug treatments.

The patient eligibility for the ovarian cancer treatment drug 'Zejuela Capsules 100mg' will also be expanded.

Previously, it was limited to adult patients with germline BRCA (tumor suppressor gene that prevents breast cancer) gene mutations, but this will be expanded to include patients with somatic BRCA gene mutations and recurrent ovarian cancer patients who have undergone three or more chemotherapy regimens.

Based on this, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to revise the 'Drug Reimbursement List and Reimbursement Ceiling Table' notification to enable new and expanded health insurance coverage starting from the 1st of next month.

Meanwhile, a pilot project for traditional Korean medicine (TKM) home visits, where community-based TKM doctors visit patients who have difficulty visiting hospitals due to illness or injury, will also begin.

This expands the scope of the 'primary care home visit fee pilot project,' which has been operating since the end of 2019, to include TKM to guarantee patients' medical choice rights. Accordingly, patients can receive treatments such as acupuncture, moxibustion, and cupping therapy at home, in addition to consultation and examination. The pilot fee for home visits is about 93,000 KRW per visit, of which patients pay approximately 28,000 KRW, corresponding to 30%.

From March, a 'Dementia Safety Hospital Incentive Pilot Project' will also be conducted to treat dementia patients showing severe behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and delirium in the community. The project targets four public nursing hospitals designated as dementia safety hospitals in the Gyeongbuk and Daejeon regions. The shorter the hospitalization period for dementia patients and the higher the rate of returning home rather than to another medical institution after discharge, the higher the fee incentives.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained, "This is to support dementia patients who are difficult to treat at home or general medical institutions to receive intensive pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment at dementia safety hospitals and spend their later years in the community."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.