"4.3 Billion Won Compensation for Medical Institutions and Pharmacies" ... Ministry of Health's Supplementary Budget of 5.636 Trillion Won Confirmed

581 Billion KRW for Vulnerable Group Kit Support and 73.5 Billion KRW for Temporary Care Worker Support in Long-term Care Institutions

An additional supplementary budget of 16.9 trillion won is being passed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 21st. The supplementary budget consists of 13.5 trillion won for support of small business owners and blind spots, 2.8 trillion won for quarantine support, and 600 billion won for contingency funds. 2022.2.21 Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] On the 21st, the Ministry of Health and Welfare finalized an additional budget of 563.6 billion KRW, which includes securing treatment beds due to the increase in COVID-19 confirmed cases and providing self-test kits once or twice a week to vulnerable groups and daycare centers.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 22nd that it secured this COVID-19 related welfare budget through the first supplementary budget of 2022, which was approved by the National Assembly the previous day. This supplementary budget focuses on strengthening quarantine measures and protecting vulnerable groups, with an increase of 133.6 billion KRW compared to the government's proposal of 430 billion KRW during the National Assembly review process.

By detailed items, the budget includes ▲ 430 billion KRW for compensation of losses to medical institutions, etc. ▲ 58.1 billion KRW for temporary support of self-test kits to vulnerable groups and daycare centers ▲ 73.5 billion KRW for temporary support to long-term care institution care workers ▲ 2 billion KRW for additional temporary support for disabled care, among others.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare is providing compensation for losses incurred by medical institutions, pharmacies, and general businesses due to government and local government measures in response to COVID-19. The related budget for this year was 1.11 trillion KRW, but with an additional 430 billion KRW secured in the supplementary budget, a total of 1.54 trillion KRW can be compensated this year.

The 58.1 billion KRW budget for self-test kits is intended to provide rapid antigen test kits once or twice a week to about 6 million eligible recipients, including children in daycare centers, users of social welfare facilities such as the elderly and disabled, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups.

The Ministry will also temporarily pay 200,000 KRW per person, totaling 73.5 billion KRW, to 368,000 long-term care institution workers who provided direct care services to the elderly while managing infections during the COVID-19 situation.

Additionally, a budget of 2 billion KRW has been secured to support activity assistants who provided activity support services to disabled persons who were confirmed or quarantined due to COVID-19.

With the approval of the first supplementary budget, the Ministry of Health and Welfare's total expenditure for this year will increase from 97.4767 trillion KRW to 98.0403 trillion KRW.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official stated, "We will promptly execute the supplementary budget to reinforce the quarantine system amid the spread of the Omicron variant," and added, "We will strive to provide more robust and meticulous support to vulnerable groups."

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