OPINION |
Cancer is Korea’s leading cause of death, accounting for nearly one in three fatalities. Other prosperous nations have made significant progress in the fight against cancer, but Korea is slipping backward. Indeed, fatalities for some types of cancer actually are on the rise.
Why? Counterproductive healthcare policies in Korea are leaving cancer patients unable to access many of the cutting-edge treatments and medications available in similarly well-off nations. Reforming these policies would save lives and grow Korea’s economy.
ADVERTISEMENT First, the country’s health system saddles cancer patients with enormous out-of-pocket costs. Sometimes patient copays are as high as 40 percent of the retail cost of the medication. Those trying to fight cancer face the choice of paying ruinous bills or going without potentially life-saving treatments.
Korea has also drastically restricted medications eligible for any reimbursement. Of the latest and most effective new cancer treatments, only 41 percent are eligible — about half the percentage covered in the United States. Again, the choice for patients is to pay exorbitant costs or do without.
Other policies have made some cutting-edge treatments unavailable to Koreans at any price. Because health services are universal, Seoul has the buying power to dictate to pharmaceutical companies how much the government will pay for any given medication.
