What does this allergy immunotherapy cost calculator do?
This calculator builds a cumulative South Korean budget for subcutaneous allergen immunotherapy, usually abbreviated SCIT, or sublingual allergen immunotherapy, usually abbreviated SLIT.
It separates assessment, testing, build-up treatment, maintenance treatment, clinic fees, adjunct medicines, follow-up tests, travel, and visit time instead of multiplying one first-year invoice by several years.
Enter the actual patient-paid quote supplied by the clinic, pharmacy, or dispensing provider and the schedule supplied by the treating specialist.
The result shows cumulative points at one, three, and five years when those points fall within the actual cost window, plus a full-plan comparison when treatment ends earlier than planned.
Korea-specific scope
- All money values use Korean won and start at zero.
- Zero means that no quote has been entered; it does not mean free or covered care.
- The model does not infer Korean National Health Insurance coverage or a private indemnity-insurance payment.
- The model does not diagnose allergy or choose SCIT, SLIT, a product, a dose, or a stopping point.
- A lower result is not evidence that one treatment is safer, more effective, or more suitable.
Official evidence checked for the 2026 model
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, or KDCA, explains allergen immunotherapy as an initial phase in which a low allergen amount is gradually increased and a maintenance phase in which a stable amount is given periodically.
Its national health information page says treatment commonly continues for three to five years, while also making clear that response takes time and other allergy medicines may still be used at the beginning.
The calculator therefore starts at 36 months as an editable planning value; it does not turn three years into a mandatory prescription or a promise of benefit.
NHIS description of conventional SCIT
The National Health Insurance Service non-covered information portal describes conventional SCIT build-up as injections at roughly one-week intervals, with the allergen amount gradually increased.
Its maintenance description uses an injection every three to four weeks.
Cluster and rush schedules reach maintenance more quickly and must not be modeled with the conventional defaults unless the clinic confirms those numbers.
Safety and effectiveness boundary
The NHIS page summarizes a Korean National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency reassessment as a conditional recommendation for adding SCIT to drug therapy for symptom improvement in allergic rhinitis or asthma.
It also stresses medical supervision and an environment able to provide emergency treatment because systemic or serious reactions can occur.
KZ0010000 and the non-covered reporting boundary
The current Ministry of Health and Welfare notice, Notice No. 2026-38, effective February 23, 2026, is titled Standards for Reporting and Disclosure of Non-Covered Medical Expenses.
Its schedule lists item 265, code KZ0010000, under injection fees for allergen immunotherapy and describes gradual administration of the causal allergen with the allergen product included.
The National Law Information Open API returned administrative-rule ID 54511 and serial number 2100000274952 as current on July 27, 2026.
KZ0010000 is a reporting and comparison boundary for injected allergen immunotherapy, not a national fixed price.
It does not prove that a separate consultation, test, or SLIT medicine uses the same code or the same coverage status.
Ask whether the clinic quote already includes the allergen product before adding any separate medicine line.
How SCIT and SLIT differ in the budget
Comparison of SCIT and SLIT schedule and cost inputs in the Korean calculator| Budget element | SCIT | SLIT |
|---|
| Initial treatment | Build-up months, visits per month, and cost per injection | First-month starter pack and any supervised first-dose visit |
| Maintenance | Interval in weeks and cost per maintenance injection | Monthly medicine cost from month two onward |
| Clinic trips | Initial visits plus every build-up and maintenance injection visit | Initial visits plus follow-up appointments at the entered interval |
| Price evidence | KZ0010000 disclosure or the patient-specific clinic quote | Actual pack, dispensing, prescription, and patient-payment quote |
| Not decided here | Eligibility, safest schedule, response, and insurance payment | Product authorization, dosing, restart rule, and insurance payment |
SCIT often creates more clinic trips, while SLIT may place a greater share of the budget in recurring medicine purchases.
This is a cost-structure observation only; clinical suitability comes first and must be decided before using cost as one planning factor.
Prepare the inputs from real documents
Clinic and pharmacy checklist
- Ask whether assessment and allergy testing are included in a package.
- For SCIT, ask whether the KZ001 quote includes both the allergen product and injection service.
- Obtain the build-up calendar and maintenance interval rather than guessing from a generic schedule.
- For SLIT, separate the first-month pack from the later monthly pack or dispensing cost.
- Record follow-up visit, repeat-testing, and adjunct-medicine patient payments separately.
Household-cost checklist
- Add public transport, fuel, tolls, and parking using one consistent round-trip rule.
- Measure time from departure to return, including waiting and observation.
- Use actual unpaid leave or a deliberately chosen time value, not a hidden default.
- Enter reimbursement only after the payer confirms the amount and timing.
- If a parent or caregiver must attend, document whether their cost is included in the hourly value.
Prevent duplicate entries
Mark every line on the quote or receipt once, then map it to one calculator field.
If a KZ0010000 charge already includes the allergen product, do not add the same product again under other initial cost or adjunct medicine.
If testing and the first treatment happen during one trip, the costs may stay separate while the initial visit count remains one.
Calculation method
SCIT build-up and maintenance visits
Build-up visits equal the applicable build-up months multiplied by average visits per month, rounded to a whole session.
Maintenance months begin after the entered build-up period.
The model converts those months to average calendar days, divides by the maintenance interval in days, and rounds up to a whole visit.
build-up visits = round(build-up months × visits per month)
maintenance visits = ceil(maintenance months × 365.2425 ÷ 12 ÷ interval days)
SLIT starter and maintenance medicine
A starter-pack cost is added once when the cost window includes at least one month.
Maintenance medicine equals the monthly amount multiplied by the number of months after month one.
Follow-up visits equal the completed follow-up intervals after the first month.
Medical cost, confirmed support, travel, and time
Initial care, immunotherapy, visit medical fees, adjunct medicine, and follow-up tests form medical cost before support.
The confirmed amount is deducted only after its entered start month and never beyond medical cost.
Travel and time remain separate because an insurance payment for medical care does not automatically reimburse either one.
household burden = medical after confirmed support + travel + time
monthly equivalent = household burden ÷ actual months
Step-by-step use
- Select the documented method. Choose SCIT or SLIT only after a clinical discussion.
- Enter the full plan and actual end. Keep them equal unless modeling an earlier change or stop.
- Enter shared initial care. Add consultation, allergy testing, other initial cost, and actual initial trips.
- Enter the method-specific schedule. Use build-up and maintenance values for SCIT, or starter, monthly medicine, and follow-up values for SLIT.
- Add recurring and household costs. Include adjunct medicines, tests, travel, time, and confirmed reimbursement.
- Review milestones. Compare medical cost, total visits, and household burden at one, three, and five years.
- Reconcile the largest lines. Return to the clinic, pharmacy, or payer when a high-cost line has an unclear inclusion rule.
Worked SCIT example at 36 months
The figures below are a deterministic formula example, not a Korean national average, fee recommendation, or expected personal quote.
Replace every amount and visit value before using the result for a household plan.
Illustrative SCIT inputs and cumulative 36-month result| Line | Illustrative input | 36-month output |
|---|
| Initial assessment and testing | KRW 170,000 | KRW 170,000 |
| Build-up | 3 months × 4 visits × KRW 40,000 | 12 visits · KRW 480,000 |
| Maintenance | Every 4 weeks × KRW 30,000 | 36 visits · KRW 1,080,000 |
| Visit fees, adjunct medicine, and tests | KRW 5,000 per visit · KRW 10,000 monthly · KRW 30,000 yearly | KRW 690,000 |
| Medical cost before support | KRW 300,000 confirmed support | KRW 2,420,000 |
| Household burden | 50 total clinic trips | KRW 4,120,000 |
In this example, medical cost after confirmed support is KRW 2,120,000.
Fifty trips add KRW 500,000 of travel and KRW 1,500,000 of time cost, bringing household burden to KRW 4,120,000.
The example demonstrates why a low injection price does not describe the full economic burden of a visit-intensive plan.
Interpreting an early end or treatment change
When the actual end month is earlier than the full planned duration, the calculator runs the same formula twice.
It labels the difference in medical cost before support as planned medical cost not yet incurred.
That amount is not a saving, a benefit of discontinuation, or a recommendation to change treatment.
Questions that remain outside the calculation
- Ask the clinician whether stopping, pausing, or changing the interval is medically appropriate.
- Ask the provider whether opened, compounded, or prepaid products can be refunded.
- Ask whether a treatment gap requires a different restart or build-up schedule.
- Ask the insurer whether stopping changes a claim, documentation, or repayment condition.
Practical planning scenarios
Compare two SCIT clinic quotes
A lower per-injection quote may come with more build-up visits, a separate consultation fee, longer travel, or longer observation.
Enter each clinic as a separate scenario and compare both medical cost and household burden over the same duration.
Review SCIT and SLIT logistics
After the specialist confirms that both are clinically relevant options, use separate scenarios to understand where the household burden sits.
SCIT may be visit-heavy, while SLIT may be medicine-heavy, but this does not compare clinical value.
Include a parent or caregiver
A child may need an accompanying adult for assessment, injection, observation, and travel.
Include the caregiver’s lost work time in the hourly input only once and document the chosen rule.
Prepare for an insurance inquiry
First calculate the medical total with reimbursement set to zero.
Then ask the payer about the treatment code, covered and non-covered lines, outpatient limits, documents, and waiting periods before entering a confirmed amount.
Tips and safety limits
Make the budget more realistic
- Update the model after the first receipt separates one-off and repeating items.
- Use the actual appointment calendar when seasonal changes or reactions alter the interval.
- Review the provider’s disclosure and pharmacy payment at least annually during a multi-year plan.
- Choose one rule for parking, fuel, public transport, and caregiver cost, then keep it consistent.
- Save the quote date, included services, method, schedule, and insurance confirmation with the result.
Medical review comes before cost calculation
Suspected severe allergic reactions after treatment, including breathing difficulty, widespread hives, faintness, low-blood-pressure symptoms, or throat tightness, require the treating team’s emergency instructions rather than another cost scenario.
Do not change a schedule without clinical review when asthma is unstable or a previous systemic reaction occurred.
This page is not an emergency triage tool and does not grade adverse reactions.
Frequently asked questions
Does KZ0010000 provide one official SCIT price?
No. It is a Korean non-covered reporting item, not a national tariff. Check the provider-specific disclosed amount and whether allergen product, injection service, and consultation are included.
Does every SCIT plan start weekly?
No. The weekly description belongs to conventional build-up in the NHIS information page. Cluster, rush, and individualized schedules differ, so use the treating clinic schedule.
Does Korean insurance cover SLIT or reimburse it through private indemnity insurance?
The answer can vary by product, prescription, claim line, and policy. This calculator does not decide coverage. Enter the actual patient payment and deduct only a confirmed reimbursement.
Can I enter less than three years?
Yes, for a cost window or an actual early end. KDCA describes a typical three-to-five-year course, so confirm that a shorter duration reflects the clinician plan rather than a budgeting assumption.
Is the cheaper method the better choice?
No. Allergen, diagnosis, age, comorbidity, product authorization, adherence, convenience, and reaction risk require clinical judgment. The calculator organizes cost only.
Does the model assume allergy medicines become cheaper after immunotherapy starts?
No. Individual response and medicine changes cannot be predicted reliably for one person. Enter the current monthly payment or a change already confirmed by the treating clinician.
Sources and future recheck points
- Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency National Health Information Portal, allergy management content published March 2023 and checked July 27, 2026.
- National Health Insurance Service Non-Covered Information Portal, Allergen Immunotherapy by Subcutaneous Injection for Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma, KZ001, checked July 27, 2026.
- Ministry of Health and Welfare Notice No. 2026-38, administrative-rule ID 54511 and serial number 2100000274952, effective February 23, 2026.
- Medical Service Act ID 001788, MST 285327, Act No. 21524, effective April 7, 2026, Articles 45 and 45-2.
- Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service list of disclosed non-covered items, including KZ0010000, checked July 27, 2026.
The KZ0010000 definition, reporting scope, treatment-duration guidance, product status, and provider prices can change after the reference date.
Recheck the current National Law Information Open API record, NHIS portal, HIRA disclosure, clinic quote, pharmacy payment, and insurance contract before relying on the estimate.
Build the budget from your real quote
Gather the clinic schedule, itemized quote, expected pharmacy payment, travel cost, and confirmed payer response before entering the figures above.
Take the cumulative table back to the care team to confirm included services and repeat intervals before committing to a multi-year household budget.