Prices of 6,500 drugs to fall 14%

The prices of 6,506 drugs given on the National Health Insurance scheme will fall by 14 percent on average from April 1, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday.

The number of the drugs accounts for a little less than half of 13,814 drugs covered by the state insurance program, the ministry said. Those exempt from the price cut have been patented, specialized for rare and hard-to-treat diseases, or are already cheap enough.

The measures are expected to save about 700 billion won from the state insurance fund, the ministry said.