50 Million Won Support for 800,000 Households in Blind Spots... Ministry of Health and Welfare's Supplementary Budget of 1.3088 Trillion Won Confirmed

Increase of 82.3 Billion KRW Over Government Proposal Due to COVID-19 Medical Staff Support and Others

On the 25th, the supplementary budget bill worth 15 trillion won for the 4th disaster relief fund payment is being passed in the National Assembly plenary session. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The Ministry of Health and Welfare will provide a living support fund of 500,000 KRW to 800,000 low-income households in welfare blind spots who have faced livelihood difficulties due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Ministry announced on the 25th that it secured an additional supplementary budget of 1.3088 trillion KRW for 2021. This supplementary budget focuses on ▲protecting welfare blind spots ▲expanding jobs in quarantine and care sectors ▲strengthening COVID-19 response. During the National Assembly review process, 82.3 billion KRW was added compared to the government proposal (1.2265 trillion KRW) for mask support for vulnerable care workers and support for medical personnel responding to COVID-19.

Specifically, a temporary living support fund will be provided to low-income households in blind spots who do not benefit from existing welfare systems or COVID-19 tailored support programs. To this end, 404.4 billion KRW is allocated to provide 500,000 KRW each to 800,000 households.

The temporary living support eligibility is set at 75% or less of the median income: 1-person households must earn 1,370,873 KRW or less, 4-person households 3,657,218 KRW or less, and 6-person households 4,970,000 KRW or less. Property limits are 600 million KRW in metropolitan areas, 350 million KRW in small and medium cities, and 300 million KRW or less in rural areas. Recipients cannot receive overlapping support from existing livelihood support welfare projects or other COVID-19 damage support programs.

Additional supplementary budget is also allocated for expanding jobs such as quarantine and care personnel. To prepare for the prolonged and recurrent COVID-19 pandemic, 72.5 billion KRW will be invested to deploy quarantine personnel to 4,141 medical institutions with 5,300 staff and 8,318 elderly care facilities with 5,375 staff. Additionally, 12.3 billion KRW is allocated to support public health center personnel.

To support the continuous employment activities of recipients and near-poverty groups increased by COVID-19, 27.6 billion KRW will be invested to expand participation in self-support work programs. Furthermore, to prevent care gaps caused by COVID-19 and reduce the workload of workers, temporary personnel support will be provided to Together Care Centers (424 locations) and Community Child Centers (4,160 locations), with a budget of 26.6 billion KRW. For extended childcare teacher support at daycare centers, 10.8 billion KRW is allocated.

6.5 trillion KRW will be provided for compensation of losses due to disinfection and closure of medical institutions treating COVID-19 patients and those with confirmed cases. For loss compensation this year, 400 billion KRW was allocated as a reserve fund in January, and an additional supplementary budget was prepared for stable payments in the 2nd to 4th quarters, securing a total of 1.05 trillion KRW.

Mask support for vulnerable care workers such as childcare teachers and nursing aides will receive 31.3 billion KRW; emergency and special care support for persons with disabilities will receive 14.7 billion KRW; and 2.4 billion KRW will be used to support response costs necessary for preventing spread and protecting residents in case of COVID-19 cluster infections in residential facilities for persons with disabilities, including rapid dispersal measures.

480 billion KRW of national funds are reflected for temporary health insurance fee support to improve the treatment of medical personnel responding to COVID-19.

With this supplementary budget, the total expenditure of the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2021 increased from 89.5766 trillion KRW to 90.8854 trillion KRW.

The Ministry stated, "Once the supplementary budget is confirmed by the National Assembly, we will thoroughly prepare for its swift execution to protect the safety of the people from COVID-19 and actively support the livelihood economy."

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