Yeongdeungpo-gu Leads the Establishment of Special Provisions for Long-Term Care Benefits

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service Propose Establishment of "Special Regulations on Long-Term Care Benefit Payments"... Continuous Requests Due to Extended Closures Support Facility Operation Losses... Achieving Zero Care Gaps

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has taken measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community by closing day and night care facilities for seniors aged 65 and older since February. They also proposed the 'Special Regulations on Long-term Care Benefit Payments' to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and other agencies, thereby resolving operational difficulties faced by these facilities.

Day and night care facilities, which operate through long-term care benefits and user co-payments, face management challenges due to loss of long-term care benefits when closed. Nevertheless, all members of the Facility Operators Association agreed to actively participate in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the community, and currently, all public and private facilities are closed.

In addition, the district proposed the establishment of special regulations on long-term care benefit payments to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service to alleviate the financial burden caused by the closures.

As a result, a system was established to apply the 'COVID-19 Temporary Long-term Care Benefit Cost Calculation Guidelines' for February, which allows an additional 50% of the benefit cost to be calculated within a range of 5 days of non-use of day and night care facilities by beneficiaries.

Furthermore, despite these special regulations, the district established a policy to support up to 70% of operational losses through supplementary budgets and other district funds.

After COVID-19 was elevated to the 'serious' stage and the government implemented a high-intensity social distancing campaign, the closure was extended again. Through a total of four proposals, the district succeeded in extending the originally planned February deadline for the 'Temporary Long-term Care Benefit Cost Calculation Guidelines,' expanding support for non-use days, and increasing the additional benefit cost calculation rate from 50% to a maximum of 70%.

Accordingly, facilities are actively encouraging users to receive family care at home or home-visit care to minimize care gaps caused by closures, and are providing emergency care services with minimal staff deployment.

A facility director operating a public facility stated, “Considering that seniors aged 65 and older are particularly vulnerable to group infections, we decided to close despite the financial difficulties of the facility. Even during the closure, we are monitoring the care status of users and providing emergency care services to prevent care gaps, while maintaining thorough quarantine measures and adhering to prevention guidelines.”

Thus, the district has realized community welfare without care gaps by minimizing damage to long-term care institutions such as day and night care facilities, along with proactive preventive measures against the spread of infectious diseases in the community.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “In this national crisis of COVID-19, the local government has actively responded and led the closure of long-term care institutions. We will continue uninterrupted welfare through proactive responses like the establishment of this special long-term care benefit regulation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.