Last year, the share of health insurance drug expenses was 23%, the lowest level in the past five years. Although drug costs themselves are steadily increasing, the rate of increase in total medical costs is much higher, indicating that the proportion of drug costs is continuously declining.

According to the 'Current Status of Claims for Reimbursed Drugs in 2022' published by HIRA on the 26th, drug costs last year were 22,896.8 billion won, accounting for 23.34% of the total medical expenses of 98,121.2 billion won. 2022 is the only time in the last five years that the share of drug spending has fallen to the 23% level. It fell by 1.28%p from 24.62% in 2018. The decrease in the share of pharmaceutical expe