Ministry of Health and Welfare and Financial Services Commission: "Strengthening Health Insurance Coverage Reduces Indemnity Insurance Payments by 210.9 Billion Won"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Kwang-ho] The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Financial Services Commission announced on the 31st that strengthening the coverage of health insurance has resulted in a decrease of more than 200 billion KRW in indemnity insurance payouts.

Between November 2019 and December 2020, the government promoted the enhancement of health insurance coverage for items such as female reproductive organ and eye ultrasound, skin suture liquid adhesives, dupilumab (allergy treatment), durvalumab (urothelial carcinoma treatment), and ocular measurement tests.

As a result, in 2020, there was a reduction effect of 210.9 billion KRW in indemnity insurance payouts.

This accounts for about 1.79% of the total indemnity insurance payouts of 11.8 trillion KRW in 2020. However, there is a limitation in this figure as indemnity insurance subscribers do not claim all the insurance money they are entitled to receive.

This study was conducted by reflecting and analyzing indemnity insurance subscriber information, health insurance usage data, and non-reimbursed price information by the Health Insurance Research Institute and the Insurance Research Institute.

The Korea Development Institute (KDI), which conducted related research from 2018 to 2020, provided advisory services.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Financial Services Commission agreed that while strengthening health insurance coverage, management of non-reimbursed services and restructuring of indemnity insurance should be carried out simultaneously. This consideration was made in light of reports that indemnity insurance payouts have increased in some non-reimbursed areas such as cataract surgery.

Both ministries decided to supplement policies to increase accessibility to essential medical services while minimizing side effects such as over-treatment.

Ryu Geun-hyeok, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "Linking health insurance and indemnity insurance policies is very important to enhance the sustainability of the medical security system," and added, "We will actively cooperate with the Financial Services Commission."

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