Ministry of Health and Welfare Budget Set at 122 Trillion Won... 12% Increase Compared to This Year

The Ministry of Health and Welfare's budget for next year has been finalized at a total of 122.3779 trillion won.

On the 21st, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that the total expenditure for next year will be 122.3779 trillion won, an increase of 12.1% (13.1949 trillion won) compared to this year's 109.193 trillion won, following the National Assembly plenary session's approval.

However, this is 75.9 billion won (0.06%) less than the original government proposal. The Ministry explained, "Most of the reduction is due to the decision to freeze the health insurance premium rate after the government budget proposal was submitted in September, resulting in a 262.6 billion won cut in the budget used to support health insurance subscribers," adding, "excluding this, there was an increase of 186.7 billion won."

During the National Assembly discussions, the increased budget mainly covered support for vulnerable groups and social services (71.7 billion won), strengthening essential medical services (57 billion won), childbirth and childcare support (33.3 billion won), and mental health support (13.2 billion won).

In the area of support for vulnerable groups and social services, the budget includes 8.5 billion won for a pilot project to incorporate nursing hospital caregiving costs into the public system, to be implemented at 109 nursing hospitals, and 26.9 billion won to raise the 'additional allowance' of the disability pension from 80,000 won to 90,000 won for the first time in 11 years. Additionally, 2 billion won was allocated for new support for urinary incontinence treatment and 1.2 billion won to expand support for knee joint surgery to manage elderly health.

In the essential medical services sector, 51.4 billion won will be used to provide graded incentives for management innovation at 41 public hospitals including local medical centers, and 1 billion won will be spent to strengthen modernization support for facilities and equipment at local medical centers. The budget also includes infrastructure support such as 1.4 billion won for robotic surgical equipment for epilepsy diagnosis and treatment, and 300 million won for purchasing disaster medical response vehicles for the Central Emergency Medical Center.

In the childbirth and childcare sector, 4.2 billion won will be invested in projects supporting crisis pregnant women counseling and anonymous childbirth following the introduction of the birth notification system, and 4.9 billion won was allocated to increase support unit costs for diapers and formula for low-income families.

In the mental health sector, the budget was increased by 13.2 billion won. This includes 900 million won for operating expenses and 500 million won for environmental improvement costs for drug addiction treatment and protection institutions. Expansion of support for addiction treatment costs is also planned.