After the government stepped back from pushing a plan to expand health insurance coverage for hair loss treatment costs, a cautious view is emerging in the pharmaceutical industry as well. That is because patient opposition is inevitable in the process of putting health insurance funds into hair loss treatment costs, and the calculations are complicated.
The government reviewed a plan to apply health insurance to treatment for androgenetic alopecia, commonly called "M-shaped hair loss." Currently, health insurance covers alopecia areata, which is influenced by stress and other factors, but not treatment for androgenetic alopecia. In response, officials discussed a plan to expand coverage to include androgenetic alopecia.
Pharmaceutical companies usually respond nimbly to questions of whether drugs will be covered by health insurance. This time, however, the industry was quiet with little reaction. A pharmaceutical industry official said, "Rather than make special preparations for expanding insurance coverage for hair loss treatments, the stance was to wait and see."
Another pharmaceutical industry official said, "Hair loss is not a severe or rare disease that affects life, and it is related to aesthetics, so there were divided views on whether applying insurance would be effective." Earlier, the Korea Patient Organization Coalition also said, "Health insurance funds should first be used to treat severe diseases directly linked to life," adding, "There are cancer patients who miss treatment while waiting for new drugs to be covered."
Another industry official said, "If insurance coverage is expanded to hair loss treatments, we can expect to lower patient burdens and improve access," but added, "Because that also raises the possibility of drug price cuts, it may not greatly help profitability." Even if prescriptions increase by switching hair loss treatments to reimbursable benefits, prices could be adjusted, so it is uncertain how much it will help corporations' profits.
Meanwhile, stocks related to hair loss treatments swung on the debate over insurance coverage. After news on the 11th of last month that the government would push expansion of hair loss coverage as a key task in the second half, shares of JW Shinyak, Hyundai Pharm, Withus Pharmaceutical and TS Trillion surged.
Later, after news that the government canceled a forum on hair loss, share prices cooled. JW Shinyak's closing price jumped more than 138%, from 1,301 won on the 11th of last month to 3,105 won on the 23rd, then finished trading at 1,929 won on the 30th.
Hyundai Pharm's closing price also rose from 5,730 won on the 11th of last month to 8,500 won on the 18th, then sank back to 5,730 won on the 30th. That was a drop of more than 32% from the peak. Withus Pharmaceutical, which can produce hair loss treatments, and TS Trillion, which sells a hair loss shampoo, also saw their closing prices on the 30th of last month fall 27% and 39%, respectively, from their peaks.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare planned to hold a public participation forum on insurance coverage for hair loss treatments on the 4th, then canceled it. With the effort scrapped at the public debate stage, some say pushing the policy within the year is effectively difficult.
The ministry said, "Even if the forum is halted, we plan to continue developing policies to strengthen the public's insurance coverage."
The industry is watching how the debate over hair loss coverage, which has become a "hot potato," will unfold.