Health Insurance Coverage Extended to Drug Addiction Treatment and Protection Recipients

From the first half of next year, health insurance will also be applied to drug addiction treatment and protection recipients.

On the 28th at 1:30 PM, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held the 24th Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee (HIPS) meeting of 2023 and approved the application of health insurance for drug addiction treatment and protection. They also discussed the performance evaluation of the health insurance pilot projects and future directions.

From the first half of next year, health insurance will be applied to drug addiction treatment and protection recipients. Until now, treatment protection for drug addiction treatment recipients was limited to non-reimbursable services, but this has been converted to reimbursable services. The HIPS expects that by providing sufficient and appropriate treatment to addicts, promptly paying treatment costs to treatment protection institutions, and improving fees through appropriate compensation, the phenomenon of medical staff avoiding treatment can also be alleviated.

The HIPS also discussed the performance evaluation results of two health insurance pilot projects ending next month and the future direction of the projects.

The government will enhance and implement the 'Rehabilitation Patient Home Medical Care Pilot Project' starting January next year by expanding the disease groups and improving the project content. The scope will be expanded from the existing three major joint (hip joint, knee joint, ankle joint) replacement surgeries and lower limb fracture surgeries to include central nervous system disease groups such as stroke and brain/spinal cord injuries. This is expected to contribute to providing home medical care services for rehabilitation patients who require continuous medical management at home after discharge.

Additionally, from March next year, the 'Children's Rehabilitation Medical Institution Designation and Operation Pilot Project' will expand its target areas to enable children with disabilities nationwide to receive integrated rehabilitation treatment services. The pilot project target areas will be expanded and subdivided (from 8 non-metropolitan regions to 18 regions nationwide including the metropolitan area). Considering population distribution, up to 7 institutions will be designated in each of the 5 metropolitan regions, and up to 3 institutions in each of the 13 non-metropolitan regions, so that children with disabilities nationwide can receive timely professional rehabilitation treatment in their residential areas.

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