[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 29th that it will add 68 diseases to the list of nationally managed rare diseases to systematically manage rare diseases and strengthen patient support.
The KDCA designates and announces nationally managed rare diseases in accordance with the Rare Disease Management Act. With this additional designation, the number of rare diseases increases from 1,014 to 1,078.
The newly added rare diseases include 68 conditions such as "Keratoconus," a clinical symptom where the cornea thins or protrudes forming a cone shape, significantly impairing vision, and "Anencephaly," a congenital abnormality characterized by most of the cerebral hemispheres being replaced by cerebrospinal fluid. A detailed list of diseases can be found on the KDCA Rare Disease Helpline website (http://helpline.nih.go.kr).
With this expansion and designation of rare diseases, patients suffering from these conditions can receive benefits such as reduced out-of-pocket medical expenses under the health insurance special case system and support for their medical expenses.
The special case for newly designated rare diseases will be applied from January next year after reporting to the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee. In this case, the current out-of-pocket rates of 20% for inpatient care and 30-60% for outpatient care will all be reduced to 10%. Approximately 6,400 additional people are expected to benefit from the special case system.
The medical expense support project, which provides support for out-of-pocket medical expenses to health insurance subscribers with rare diseases whose income is below 120% of the median income, will also expand its target diseases from 1,014 to 1,078.
Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the KDCA, stated, "Through this additional designation of rare diseases, the burden of medical expenses will be reduced, and support for rare disease patients, including diagnosis and treatment, will be expanded. We will also faithfully carry out surveys and establish a national registration system."
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