The government is moving to improve supply management and price compensation systems for medical devices essential to patient treatment, such as artificial blood vessels used in pediatric heart surgery, to prevent supply disruptions.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said a consultative body on medical device — or treatment material — policy reform, involving industry and the medical community, began full operations on the 9th. Participating as suppliers are the Korea Medical Devices Industry Association, the Korea Medical Devices Industrial Cooperative and the Korea Dental Medical Devices Industry Association, while the Korean Medical Association, the Korean Hospital Association and the Korean Dental Association take part as users.
The body was formed in response to views from the field that shortages of essential treatment materials keep recurring and that undervalued materials need adequate compensation. The rapid growth in health insurance payments for treatment materials also prompted its launch. Payments for treatment materials rose 172.2% in 2024 from 2015, far outpacing growth in medical procedures at 108.7% and drug costs at 90.4%.
The government plans to discuss ways to ease supply instability for essential medical devices and to improve standards for setting price ceilings, aiming to prevent a repeat of the so-called "Gore incident," when U.S.-based Gore halted supplies of artificial blood vessels for pediatric heart surgery in 2019. It will also overhaul the management system covering the entire process from device listing to post-market oversight, with an improvement plan to be prepared by the first half of next year.
