Namwon-si to Expand 'Cancer Patient Medical Expense' Support Starting Next Month

[Namwon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters reporter Jeong Young-kwon] Jeonbuk Namwon City Health Center (Director Lee Soon-rye) announced on the 30th that, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's revised notice on medical expense support criteria for cancer patients, medical expenses will be supported under the changed criteria starting from the 1st of next month.

With this revision, the annual support limit for medical aid recipients and low-income insured persons under health insurance with reduced out-of-pocket expenses will be expanded from 2.2 million KRW to up to 3 million KRW.

The distinction between support funds divided into covered expenses (up to 1.2 million KRW) and non-covered expenses (up to 1 million KRW) has also been removed.

However, medical expense support for health insurance subscribers who were diagnosed with cancer through the national cancer screening and belong to the lower 50% income bracket of health insurance premium payers will be discontinued.

The city decided to discontinue this support considering that the burden on patients for cancer treatment has decreased due to strengthened health insurance coverage and the existence of similar medical expense support programs such as catastrophic medical expense support projects.

The current system will be maintained until today, and health insurance subscribers who undergo national cancer screening and receive a diagnosis during this period will continue to receive support under the existing criteria even after next month.

A health center official stated, “We will do our best to support and promote medical expense assistance to reduce the economic burden on low-income cancer patients.”

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