Expansion of Support for At-Home Medical Care for Severely Ill Children and Assistive Devices for Children with Disabilities

Ministry of Health and Welfare Announces Legislative Notice on Amendment to Medical Benefits Act

Full Coverage for Pulse Oximeters, Electric Wheelchairs for Children, and More

The range of items covered by medical benefits will be expanded to support at-home treatment for low-income children and adolescents with severe illnesses, and to assist the growth and development of children with severe disabilities.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on April 16 that it will publicly announce a partial amendment to the Enforcement Rule of the Medical Benefits Act, containing these changes, until May 26.

This measure is intended to ease the financial burden on households with children suffering from severe illnesses who require essential medical care at home, and to provide appropriate assistive devices for children with severe disabilities whose physical functions change rapidly during growth.

According to the amendment, to support home treatment for children and adolescents with severe illnesses, pulse oximeters, suction machines, and enteral nutrition infusion pumps will be included as medical benefit items for medical care expenses. For children with severe disabilities, torso-support walkers, stroller-type manual wheelchairs, and multipurpose electric wheelchairs (electric wheelchairs for children) will be provided as assistive devices for persons with disabilities under the medical benefits program.

Children suffering from serious diseases such as muscular atrophy and brain injury often require frequent airway suctioning at home while using ventilators, as they have difficulty expectorating sputum on their own. Currently, ventilator rental fees are supported as medical benefit care expenses, but essential devices for maintaining the child's life and safety—such as pulse oximeters, related sensors, and suction machines—have not been covered, forcing caregivers to bear costs of up to approximately 1.8 million won.

However, with the expansion of coverage, these devices will now be fully supported within the standard amounts: 1.4 million won for a pulse oximeter, 145,000 won for a sensor, and 230,000 won for a suction machine.

Additionally, while electric wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs for mobility, and walkers for gait training have been covered by medical benefits, there was no support for child-specific assistive devices that fit the child's body size and can be adjusted as they grow, resulting in a significant financial burden on families. In particular, child-sized electric wheelchairs, which feature seat adjustment functions to accommodate growth, cost about 3.8 million won. With this amendment, these will also be fully covered within the standard amount.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "By expanding support for essential medical devices for children and adolescents with severe illnesses and for assistive devices for children with severe disabilities in households eligible for medical benefits, we expect that the home care environment will improve and the economic burden will be significantly reduced."

The ministry plans to finalize the amendment after widely collecting public opinion during the notice period.

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