Planning a finite hepatitis C antiviral course in South Korea
Hepatitis C treatment is different from long-term suppression for chronic hepatitis B.
Modern direct-acting antivirals, abbreviated DAAs, are taken every day for a defined course and are followed by an HCV RNA test to confirm whether the virus remains undetectable.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reports a treatment rate of 98% to 99% after effective DAAs became available, but that figure describes a population and is not a prediction for one person.
A tablet price alone does not reveal the full course cost because Maviret uses three tablets a day while Epclusa uses one.
Treatment may last 8, 12, 16, or 24 weeks depending on the medicine, prior treatment, genotype, cirrhosis status, and whether ribavirin can be used.
The dedicated Korean calculator combines those quantities with the selected coverage status, then links the first dose to the last dose and the usual SVR12 testing date.
What the calculator covers
Exact course quantity
It multiplies treatment weeks by seven days and the daily tablet count to show the total number of tablets.
Coverage-aware drug budget
It separates the user-confirmed reimbursement status from the simplified public-duration check and applies either the selected ordinary copay or 100% self-pay.
Public-duration cross-check
It compares genotype, cirrhosis status, and prior treatment with the main June 2026 HIRA duration pathways without claiming to approve treatment.
SVR timeline
It calculates the final dose date, the date 84 days later for SVR12, and a 168-day SVR24 reference date using timezone-safe calendar arithmetic.
Official July 2026 prices and daily quantities
The calculator uses the HIRA reimbursement list effective July 1, 2026 as its editable starting point.
Maviret contains glecaprevir 100 mg and pibrentasvir 40 mg per tablet and uses three tablets once daily with food.
Epclusa contains sofosbuvir 400 mg and velpatasvir 100 mg per tablet and uses one tablet once daily.
July 2026 HIRA ceiling prices and course quantities for Maviret and Epclusa| Medicine | Ingredient and daily use | Ceiling price | Course options | Total tablets |
|---|
| Maviret | Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir · three tablets daily | KRW 65,009/tablet | 8, 12, or 16 weeks | 168, 252, or 336 |
| Epclusa | Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir · one tablet daily | KRW 113,050/tablet | 12 or 24 weeks | 84 or 168 |
A public ceiling price is not a guaranteed invoice price
The public drug list warns that contract or risk-sharing arrangements can affect the amount used in an actual claim.
Replace the unit amount with the figure provided by the hospital or pharmacy when available, and keep consultation, dispensing, tests, ribavirin, and other medicines separate.
How the main HIRA duration pathways are simplified
In the HIRA table effective June 1, 2026, treatment-naive patients with genotype 1 through 6 and either no cirrhosis or compensated cirrhosis have a common eight-week Maviret pathway.
After qualifying interferon-based treatment failure, genotype 3 maps to 16 weeks in the simplified model, while genotypes 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 map to eight weeks without cirrhosis and 12 weeks with compensated cirrhosis.
Previous DAA failure is not reduced to one answer because the prior NS3/4A protease-inhibitor or NS5A exposure, resistance information, and transplant history can change retreatment.
Epclusa maps to 12 weeks for genotype 1 through 6 when the patient is treatment-naive or has qualifying interferon-based failure and has no cirrhosis or compensated cirrhosis.
For decompensated cirrhosis, the public pathway uses Epclusa plus ribavirin for 12 weeks when ribavirin can be used, or Epclusa alone for 24 weeks when it cannot be used.
Ribavirin cost and monitoring are not included, and the calculator sends prior DAA failure or a decompensated-cirrhosis Maviret scenario to specialist review.
A matching duration is not treatment approval
The input does not capture every approved-label restriction, medicine interaction, organ function measure, transplant detail, resistance result, or reimbursement document.
A match only means that the limited inputs line up with one public duration row; a hepatology clinician and the claiming institution must confirm the real regimen and coverage.
Exact cost and date formulas
treatment days = treatment weeks × 7
total tablets = treatment days × tablets per day
list drug cost = unit price × total tablets
covered patient drug cost = round(list drug cost × selected copay)
full-self-pay drug cost = list drug cost
final dose date = start date + treatment days − 1 day
SVR12 date = final dose date + 84 days
SVR24 reference date = final dose date + 168 days
The last-dose formula treats the start date as day one, so an eight-week course has 56 dose days rather than adding 56 days after the first dose.
Date arithmetic uses UTC calendar dates to avoid a one-day shift caused by browser timezone conversion.
Confirmed extra medical costs are added after the drug copay, and only a support amount that is already confirmed is subtracted from the planning total.
Worked course-cost examples
The table applies the public ceiling price and a simplified 30% covered pharmacy share.
It does not add visits, tests, dispensing, ribavirin, another medicine, or any contract-price adjustment.
Worked Maviret and Epclusa course costs at the July 2026 public price and a 30 percent copay| Course | Tablets | Public total | 30% estimate |
|---|
| Maviret 8 weeks | 168 | KRW 10,921,512 | KRW 3,276,454 |
| Maviret 12 weeks | 252 | KRW 16,382,268 | KRW 4,914,680 |
| Maviret 16 weeks | 336 | KRW 21,843,024 | KRW 6,552,907 |
| Epclusa 12 weeks | 84 | KRW 9,496,200 | KRW 2,848,860 |
| Epclusa 24 weeks | 168 | KRW 18,992,400 | KRW 5,697,720 |
Korean coverage and special-case copayment limits
The current National Health Insurance Enforcement Decree provides the ordinary simplified outpatient shares used by this tool: 30% for a pharmacy or clinic, 40% for a hospital, 50% for a general hospital, and 60% for a tertiary hospital.
The full text of special-case notice No. 2026-101 did not contain B18.2 or hepatitis C as its own special-case diagnosis, so the calculator does not automatically substitute a 5% cancer rate or a 10% rare-disease rate.
A separate cancer or rare-disease registration does not automatically prove that the DAA claim is related to that registered condition, so the claiming provider must confirm any different rate.
The annual out-of-pocket ceiling is not deducted automatically because it depends on the household income tier, all covered patient cost sharing in the same calendar year, and which items count toward the ceiling.
Private indemnity insurance and the medical-expense tax credit are also omitted because policy generation, deductibles, confirmed reimbursements, salary, other medical spending, and tax eligibility are required.
Use the confirmed-support field only after an insurer or support program gives a reliable amount.
Step-by-step use
- Select the medicine shown on the prescription or being discussed with the hepatology team.
Changing medicine restores its July 2026 ceiling price and its common default course length.
- Enter the prescribed weeks and replace the tablet price if the institution supplied a different claim or quote amount.
Do not select a course merely because its comparison-row cost is lower.
- Use the medical record for genotype, cirrhosis status, and prior HCV treatment.
Leave genotype as unknown instead of guessing, especially after previous treatment.
- Choose reimbursement only if the provider or pharmacy has indicated that the prescription is covered.
The duration cross-check remains visible but never silently changes that user-confirmed status.
- Enter the first dose date, separately confirmed test or visit costs, and confirmed support.
Use the final-dose and SVR12 dates to plan a discussion with the clinic rather than booking a test without clinical instructions.
Practical planning scenarios
Budgeting before coverage is confirmed
Select full self-pay to see the ceiling-price maximum and keep that result as a conservative reserve.
Change to the actual ordinary copay only after the institution confirms reimbursement for the prescribed scenario.
Checking an eight-week timeline
A course beginning July 19, 2026 has its 56th and final planned dose on September 12, 2026.
The date 84 days later is December 5, 2026, which is the calculator’s SVR12 planning date.
Understanding a review flag
Prior DAA failure, unknown genotype after treatment, or decompensated cirrhosis with Maviret produces a specialist-review result.
The cost remains available for discussion, but the flag prevents a complex case from appearing to have a definitive automated duration.
Adding non-drug costs carefully
Add only a quoted patient share for consultation, HCV RNA, liver tests, imaging, ribavirin, or dispensing.
Keeping those amounts separate makes it clear that the official drug price is not a complete episode-of-care bill.
Treatment and follow-up safeguards
- An HCV antibody result alone does not prove current infection, so confirm the HCV RNA result used by the treating team.
- Give the physician and pharmacist a complete list of prescriptions, over-the-counter medicines, antacids, herbal products, and supplements before the first dose.
- Do not double a dose, stop early, or switch medicine based only on this calculator; follow the exact product instructions after a missed dose or vomiting.
- Even after sustained virologic response, a person with cirrhosis may still need liver-cancer surveillance and specialist follow-up.
- Successful treatment does not create immunity, reinfection remains possible, and no preventive HCV vaccine is currently available.
Frequently asked questions
Does an eight-week DAA course guarantee cure?
No.
The 98% to 99% KDCA figure is a population reference, and an individual result depends on the clinical scenario and correct completion of treatment.
Cure is confirmed by the HCV RNA result at the follow-up time chosen by the clinician, commonly SVR12.
Should I choose Maviret or Epclusa from the cheaper comparison row?
No.
Medicine selection depends on liver status, previous treatment, interactions, organ function, and other factors that are not priced in the table.
Use the comparison only to understand a prescription or a clinician-proposed option.
Is hepatitis C automatically charged at a 5% or 10% special-case copay?
The current special-case notice checked for this calculator did not list B18.2 hepatitis C itself.
The calculator therefore uses ordinary outpatient shares and requires confirmation from the claiming institution if another registered condition may affect a particular claim.
Why might the actual bill differ from the result?
The result starts with a public ceiling price and a simplified cost-sharing percentage.
Contract pricing, claim handling, the place of dispensing, reimbursement review, consultation, tests, ribavirin, other medicines, and rounding can all change the invoice.
Can the HCV RNA test be done on the final treatment day?
An end-of-treatment result is not the same as sustained virologic response after treatment.
The calculator marks 12 weeks after the final dose as the SVR12 planning date and also shows a 24-week reference, but the clinician should set the real test date.
Use the prescription and laboratory record, not memory
Enter the exact medicine, quoted tablet amount, course length, genotype, cirrhosis status, and prior treatment from the record to create a transparent budget and follow-up timeline.
Bring the result to the treatment discussion, but confirm reimbursement, safety, interactions, and the SVR test plan with the hepatology clinician and pharmacist.
Price, reimbursement, statute, and public-health references were checked on July 19, 2026.