Unlimited Coverage Days for Health Insurance up Tt 1.5 Million Won Per Year

The Minister of Health and Welfare announced yesterday that it decided to enforce the `fixed supreme system` beginning in December. The system is to extend the coverage days unlimitedly until the total amount of coverage reaches 1.5 million won per year per person in order to lessen the burden of elderly people and chronic illness patients due to the limitation of medical treatment days (365 days) in health insurance.

The medical treatment day in health insurance is a total number of days including the days for outpatient treatment, days of hospitalization, and days of drug prescription.

The Minister of Health and Welfare decided to add 30 more days for 9 chronic illness such as high blood pressure, diabetes, mental disease (including epilepsy), pulmonary tuberculosis, heart disease, Parkinson`s disease, thyroid, Alzheimer disease, and immune related disease. The Ministry also decided to include more illness through the notification of Minister, if necessary. The Ministry announced last month that it would reduce the financial burden amounting to 228.6 billion won annually by limiting the medical treatment days in health insurance to 365 days (30 days added for the chronic illness) through the second comprehensive measure for the health insurance finance.

fullmoon@donga.com