Seven out of 10 Koreans want to lower the drug cost by choosing a cheaper generic medicine that uses the same ingredient as the original drug if there were no difference in efficacy, a survey showed.

Thus, the government should revise the out-of-pocket drug payment system to maintain the health insurance program’s fiscal stability, a research institute said.

The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) published a report on consumers' perception of the burden of prescription drug cost and their willingness to choose inexpensive drugs. Sylvia Park, a researcher at the KIHASA, wrote the report.

The institute surveyed 2,026 Koreans who received prescription drugs last year to find out their perception of generic medicines. Over 70 percent of the respondents said they were willing to lower the financial burden by choosing more affordable drugs.

About 80 percent were not aware of generic drugs, and 85 percent could not tell whether the latest prescription medicine they received was a generic drug or not.

The respondents were most interested in their prescription drug efficacy, followed by side effects, price, ingredient name, brand name, and manufacturer.

Asked if the prescription drug was financially burdensome, more than half of the respondents said no.

However, over 80 percent said they did not want their doctor to prescribe a higher-priced drug with the same ingredient.

Also, the majority of them answered that they were willing to choose cheaper medicines if a doctor recommends a more inexpensive drug.

Based on the survey results, the KIHASA raised the need to revise the out-of-pocket drug payment system so that consumers can pay the much lower out-of-pocket cost when choosing a cheaper drug with the same ingredient.

In other countries that have run a health insurance program and experienced the problem of rising drug costs, the governments have implemented policies to promote drug price competition in the generic drug market by encouraging patients to choose cheaper drugs, Park said in the report.

“Making drug expenditure more efficient is an important policy task to maintain the fiscal soundness of the health insurance program,” Park said. “The patent expired drugs could be a major strategic market to make drug expenditure more efficient.”