[2024 Budget] "Strengthening Support for Socially Vulnerable" Ministry of Health and Welfare to Allocate 122.5 Trillion Won (Comprehensive)

The government will invest 104.8139 trillion KRW next year to provide robust support for socially vulnerable groups. The basic living security livelihood benefit for a four-person household will be increased by 213,000 KRW (13.16%) compared to this year. Additionally, 780.1 billion KRW will be invested in innovative research and development to enhance global competitiveness in the bio sector.

On the 29th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that next year’s budget has been set at 122.4538 trillion KRW, a 12.2% increase from this year. This is more than four times the government’s total expenditure growth rate (2.8%). The share of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s budget in the total government budget (656.9 trillion KRW) rose from 17.1% to 18.6%. The budget allocation direction for next year is ‘selection and concentration.’ The budget will focus on core projects, concentrating on areas where the state must take the lead, such as supporting socially vulnerable groups and investing in the future.

Basic Living Security Livelihood Benefit Increased by 213,000 KRW

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will strengthen support for socially vulnerable groups. The basic living security livelihood benefit (for a four-person household) will be raised by 213,000 KRW (13.16%) from this year to 1,834,000 KRW. The median income standard has also been increased by 6.09% to include more socially vulnerable people. Furthermore, the medical aid support obligation system will be improved to benefit an additional 50,000 people. If a household receiving medical aid has a person with a severe disability, the support obligation criteria will not be applied. The property criteria for support obligations have also been relaxed from 230 million KRW to 360 million KRW.

Preparing for the entry into a super-aged society, the Ministry increased the senior employment budget by 486.2 billion KRW from this year, setting it at a total of 2.0262 trillion KRW. Senior jobs will be expanded to a record high of 147,000 positions, providing employment to 1.03 million elderly people. The senior job allowance will also be raised by 20,000 to 40,000 KRW (7%) for the first time in six years.

Additionally, tailored one-on-one dedicated care services for the most severely developmentally disabled individuals who have difficulty using existing care services will be expanded nationwide. The support budget has increased from 1.5 billion KRW to 71.7 billion KRW. To prepare for situations where families find it difficult to provide care due to severe disabilities, 24-hour individual care services will also be extended to all regions.

Reflecting changing demographic structures and social environments, welfare blind spots will be eliminated. Customized programs will be provided for young caregivers and socially isolated youth. The Ministry will launch a pilot project to support vulnerable youth with a budget of 3.7 billion KRW, an increase of 340 million KRW from this year. ‘Self-care expenses’ will be newly supported to assist young caregivers who have been unable to care for themselves in learning and physical and mental health.

Customized support for those at risk of solitary death will also be promoted, with a budget of 2.9 billion KRW secured. Emergency care services will be available with a budget of 3.5 billion KRW even if the individual is not an infant, disabled, or elderly but requires assistance.

To help children from basic living security recipient families become independent, eligibility for the Child Development Support Account will be lowered from age 12 to 0. Income requirements will also be relaxed from the livelihood and medical aid recipient criteria (below 40% of median income) to the housing and education benefit recipient criteria (below 50% of median income). The independence allowance for youth preparing for independence will be increased by 100,000 KRW from 400,000 KRW to 500,000 KRW per month. A budget of 63.1 billion KRW will be invested for this purpose.

Addressing Low Birthrate... Parental Allowance Increased to 1 Million KRW

The Ministry of Health and Welfare will reduce the economic and childcare burdens caused by pregnancy and childbirth to address the low birthrate issue. The budget for essential fertility (reproductive health) checkups and medical support for premature infants and others has increased to 23.6 billion KRW. Couples preparing for pregnancy will receive support for reproductive health checkups and frozen egg usage costs, and medical expenses for premature or congenital anomaly infants will be provided regardless of income level.

The parental allowance for infants aged 0 will be increased from 700,000 KRW to 1 million KRW. The first meeting voucher support amount will also be raised from 2 million KRW to 3 million KRW starting from the second child. The budget for parental allowance and first meeting vouchers has been set at 3.2691 trillion KRW. To allow parents to care for their children at home and entrust them to daycare centers when needed, the number of time-based childcare institutions will be expanded from 1,030 classes to 2,315 classes. For children aged 0 to 2, additional institutional childcare fees will be supported according to the number of vacant children.

Essential Medical Care Available at Residence

Essential medical services will be accessible at the place of residence. To enable severely ill patients to receive treatment within their communities, the classification system of emergency medical institutions will be reorganized according to disease severity, and medical functions will be strengthened. Additionally, a ‘rotating on-call network’ will be meticulously operated for severe emergency diseases that are difficult for individual medical institutions to handle. For this, the Ministry has increased the budget by 9.8 billion KRW compared to this year.

Child health will be protected by establishing a pediatric medical system that covers everything from mild colds to pediatric cancer in stages. First, a budget of 9.2 billion KRW has been allocated to support the operation costs of ‘Moonlight Children’s Hospitals,’ which provide care during nights and weekends, and to start a service allowing consultations with medical professionals by phone. The Ministry will also foster five ‘base hospitals’ regionally so that pediatric cancer patients can receive necessary treatment near their residence without having to travel to Seoul. A budget of 6.4 billion KRW has been allocated for this.

Attention will also be paid to mental health prevention. The Ministry plans to launch the ‘National Mental Health Investment Project,’ which will support psychological counseling services for all citizens in need, starting with medium- and high-risk groups. The budget for this project is 53.9 billion KRW.

7.801 Billion KRW Investment in Bio Research and Development

Global competitiveness in bio and digital health will also be strengthened. The Ministry will invest 780.1 billion KRW in innovative research and development to drive bio research achievements to world-class levels. The ‘Korean-style ARPA-H Project’ will be launched to support high-cost, high-difficulty, but high-impact innovative research aimed at solving national health challenges. Additionally, the ‘Boston-Korea Project’ will be promoted to secure bio super-gap technologies through collaboration with global leading institutions.

A budget of 5.9 billion KRW will be invested to establish a ‘Global Bio Campus’ that provides education and training on vaccine and biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes as a WHO global bio workforce training hub. Furthermore, 93.5 billion KRW will be invested to expand health and medical official development assistance (ODA) that contributes to global health care.