The government is expanding support for disaster medical expenses for the vulnerable who are suffering from COVID-19.
The Disaster Medical Expense Support Policy Deliberation Committee under the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a meeting this morning (27th) and decided to expand support for disaster medical expenses to the low-income class from November.
Disaster Medical Expense Support is a system in which the state subsidizes a portion of medical expenses to prevent households from going bankrupt due to medical expenses incurred excessively relative to their income level.
Eligible for support are those households with less than 100% of the standard median income (median of national household income) whose medical expenses exceed 15% of their annual income.
All diseases are hospitalized, and outpatients are covered for six major diseases, including cancer, cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, rare, severe intractable disease, and severe burns.
Households that fall between 100% and 200% of the standard median income can receive assistance through individual screening if medical expenses exceed 20% of their annual income.
The government provides a lump sum of 50% of the out-of-pocket expenses paid by households currently selected for the target within KRW 20 million per year, and provides additional support of KRW 10 million through additional screening.
In the future, the committee has decided not to provide all recipients with 50% of the out-of-pocket payment.
Instead, the lower limit is to support 50% of co-payments for households with 100-200% of the standard median income.
As there are cases where, despite high medical expenses, they fail to receive additional support from individual screening, it has been decided to increase the annual support limit from KRW 20 million to KRW 30 million.