"Long-term Care Insurance to Be Operated Transparently and Efficiently"…Formation of Financial Soundness Promotion Team

The 6th Long-term Care Committee Meeting Held

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The government has decided to take measures to stabilize the finances of long-term care insurance following health insurance.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 16th that it reported on the composition and operation plan of the "Long-term Care Finance Stabilization Task Force" at the 6th Long-term Care Committee meeting.

Long-term care insurance is a social insurance system that provides care services such as bathing and nursing to people aged 65 or older, or those under 65 who have difficulty living independently for more than six months due to senile diseases such as dementia or cerebrovascular disease. With the rapid increase in the elderly population due to low birth rates and aging, expenditures have surged, and it is expected that the long-term care insurance reserve fund will be depleted by 2026, four years from now, and the deficit will exceed 76 trillion won by 2070.

The task force, led by the Director of the Population Policy Office of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will focus on key areas such as ▲proper management of beneficiaries ▲support for rational use of benefits ▲enhancement of transparency in long-term care institutions ▲strengthening pre- and post-management of long-term care benefits, and will prepare measures to manage the overall long-term care finances and improve operational efficiency.

At the 5th Long-term Care Committee held last September, there was a discussion on the need for a promotion system to operate long-term care finances more transparently and efficiently. The mid- to long-term institutional improvement tasks derived by the task force are expected to be reflected in the 3rd Long-term Care Basic Plan (2023?2027) after further discussions at the Long-term Care Committee.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported on the progress of establishing the 3rd Long-term Care Basic Plan at the Long-term Care Committee meeting on the same day. The Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs conducted related basic research, and the basic plan is scheduled to be finalized in March next year after going through stages of task force meetings, public hearings, and opinion gathering from the Long-term Care Committee. Additionally, the ministry plans to form a consultative body composed of experts and stakeholders in January next year to improve the treatment of care workers working in long-term care institutions and to prepare measures to secure long-term care personnel.

Lee Ki-il, the 1st Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, said, "Even amid environmental changes such as entering a super-aged society and increasing social care demand, we will strive to ensure that the elderly long-term care insurance provides better services to more seniors and plays a central role in elderly care."

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