Economic evaluation and pharmaceutical reimbursement reform in South Korea's National Health Insurance.

South Korea's National Health Insurance recently announced a reform in pharmaceutical reimbursement, with the purpose of increasing rational resource use in drug spending. The new policy aims to take the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of newly introduced drugs into account in payment decisions. If the policy is implemented, South Korea will be the first Asian country to officially adopt economic evaluation as a tool for resource allocation in health care. This paper looks at the background, objectives, expected outcomes, potential issues, and resulting trade conflict regarding use of economic data in drug reimbursement decisions in South Korea.