Gwanak-gu Expands Medical Expense Support for Rare Disease Patients

Expansion of Medical Expense Support to 1,110 Rare Diseases Including Chronic Kidney Disease and Hemophilia... Online Application Available for Health Insurance Subscribers Without Support Obligors

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is expanding its rare disease medical expense support project to promote the economic and psychological stability of rare disease patients and their families.

Rare diseases are defined as diseases with a prevalence of fewer than 20,000 people or diseases that are difficult to diagnose, making it impossible to know the exact number of patients. Most rare diseases are difficult to cure and require expensive treatment costs, so medical expense support is absolutely necessary for low-income families.

Starting this year, according to the revised main guidelines of the rare disease medical expense support project, the number of diseases eligible for medical expense support has expanded from the previous 1,038 to 1,110 with 72 additional diseases, reducing the medical expense burden for those who had not previously benefited.

Also, the application method, which used to require visiting the public health center, is now available online, allowing rare disease patients and their families to apply more conveniently.

Online applications are only available to health insurance subscribers without a supporting obligor. Those who are special cases for property investigation, health insurance subscribers with a supporting obligor, or those who are not health insurance subscribers (such as medical aid recipients or low-income cost-sharing reduction beneficiaries) cannot apply online.

The support targets are those who meet the criteria for the target diseases, are registered as rare disease patients under the National Health Insurance Service’s special calculation exception, and satisfy income and property standards. Selected individuals receive support for co-payments for treatment benefits related to the disease, nursing care costs, purchase costs for assistive devices, rental fees for respiratory aids and cough stimulators, and special dietary purchase costs.

The district provided 730 million KRW last year and 760 million KRW in 2019, supporting an average of about 4 million KRW per person. Currently, 169 patients, including 67 with chronic kidney disease and 17 with hemophilia, are registered as rare disease patients and receiving medical expense support.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “We hope to ease the economic burden on patients and families suffering from rare diseases and greatly contribute to their psychological stability. We will continue to make multifaceted efforts to ensure that rare disease patients are not left in the blind spots of social security and that their rights to health and welfare are guaranteed.”

For more details, please contact the local public health department.

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