Degenerative Spine Disease MRI Covered by Health Insurance... "Examination Fee Drops to 100,000~200,000 Won"

2nd Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee
Pilot Project for Nurse Shift System Improvement to Start in April

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] From March this year, patients with severe degenerative spinal diseases and those with spinal dislocation, deformity, tumor diseases, or suspected cases will also receive health insurance coverage for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. As a result, the burden of MRI examination costs will be significantly reduced from an average of 360,000 to 700,000 KRW to 100,000 to 200,000 KRW.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 27th at the 2nd Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee meeting that, as part of strengthening health insurance coverage, the scope of health insurance coverage for spinal MRI examinations will be expanded.

Until now, health insurance coverage for spinal MRI scans was only applied to cancer patients, spinal cord disease patients, and those with severe spinal diseases. Going forward, insurance will be applied once at the time of diagnosis for degenerative disease patients with symptoms severe enough to require surgery, those with benign tumors in or around the spine, those suffering from or suspected of spinal dislocation or deformity.

For non-degenerative diseases, insurance will also cover follow-up and long-term follow-up examinations, but if the number of covered examinations is exceeded, the patient must bear 80% of the medical expenses.

With insurance coverage, the burden of MRI examinations for degenerative disease patients with symptoms severe enough to consider surgery will decrease from an average of 360,000 to 700,000 KRW to about 100,000 to 200,000 KRW, and approximately 1.45 million people are expected to benefit annually. The expansion of health insurance coverage for spinal MRI will be implemented in March after an administrative notice next month.

Health insurance will also newly apply from February to two drugs: the glaucoma treatment 'Bijulta Eye Drops' and the psoriasis treatment 'Skillarens Extended-Release Tablets.' The annual medication cost for Bijulta Eye Drops will decrease from about 110,000 KRW to 30,000 KRW, and for Skillarens Extended-Release Tablets from 910,000 KRW to about 270,000 KRW. Additionally, the scope of health insurance coverage for the leukemia treatment 'Vesponsa Injection' will be expanded to include 'remission induction therapy for Philadelphia chromosome (positive) relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia.'

Furthermore, along with the planned expansion of health insurance coverage for head and neck ultrasound in February, fees for essential and severe surgeries related to the head and neck will be improved. Fees for 24 items, including thyroid biopsy tests, surgeries for malignant tumors such as thyroid cancer, and other thyroidectomy procedures, will be adjusted. After administrative notice procedures, from March, for dry cupping therapy, up to five disposable cups per session will be separately reimbursable.

On the same day, the Ministry of Health and Welfare also reported on the 'Pilot Project Plan for Improving Nurse Shift Systems.' The core of the plan is to assign night-shift nurses who work fixed night hours and operate substitute nurses to urgently fill vacancies. This is a measure to prevent nurses from leaving medical sites due to irregular shift work or workload burdens.

Medical institutions participating in the pilot project will be selected through a public contest in February and the project will begin in April. The Ministry plans to evaluate the project once in the first half and once in the second half of the year and provide differential support funds. Over the next three years, the effects of the pilot project will be analyzed to design plans for revising nurse grading.

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