Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums to Rise Next Year... Average Monthly Increase of 517 Won Per Household

Decision made to raise premiums for aging population and enhanced coverage
Next year’s premium per household set at 18,362 won

With the government raising the long-term care insurance premium rate for the first time in three years, the average monthly insurance premium per household will increase by 517 won next year compared to this year.

Lee Seuran, First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, is speaking at the 4th Long-Term Care Committee held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 4th. Photo by Yonhap News

Premium per Household Raised to 18,362 Won

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 4th that it held the 6th Long-Term Care Committee meeting this year and set next year’s long-term care insurance premium rate at 0.9448% of income. This is the first increase in the long-term care insurance premium rate in three years. For both last year and this year, the rate remained at 0.9182%.

The long-term care insurance premium rate, compared to the health insurance premium, will rise from 12.95% this year to 13.14% next year. Taking into account the 1.48% increase in health insurance premiums next year, the average monthly long-term care insurance premium per subscriber household will rise by 517 won (2.9%), from 17,845 won this year to 18,362 won next year.

The long-term care insurance system is a social insurance program that provides care services such as bathing and nursing to those aged 65 or older, or to those under 65 who have difficulty living independently for more than six months due to dementia, cerebrovascular diseases, or other geriatric illnesses. Health insurance subscribers are automatically enrolled and pay a portion of their health insurance premium as a long-term care insurance premium.

The government stated that it determined the increase rate by considering the public's capacity to bear insurance premiums. Although the long-term care fund is currently stable, the government expects that, as the population ages, the number of beneficiaries will increase, leading to a significant rise in benefit expenditures. The government also cited the anticipated increase in spending due to the strengthening of long-term care coverage and the improvement of working conditions for care workers.

Government Discusses Expansion of Support for Long-Term Care System

At the committee meeting on this day, the government also discussed plans to improve the long-term care system for next year. The plan includes increasing the monthly usage limit for home-based services such as day and night care and short-term care for beneficiaries, with the amount raised to between 18,920 won and 247,800 won, depending on the beneficiary's grade.

In addition, to reduce the burden on families, the government plans to extend the "long-term care family leave system" period, which allows families of severely ill and dementia beneficiaries to use full-day home-visit care, from 11 days to 12 days per year. The government will also expand additional payments for severe cases in home-visit care and introduce new additional payments for severe cases in home-visit bathing services to support the use of home-based benefits for severely ill beneficiaries.

In the process of improving the treatment of care workers, the eligibility for the long-term service incentive will be expanded from those who have worked at the same institution for three years or more to those with at least one year of service. In addition to care workers and nurses, hygiene workers will also be included as eligible recipients. As a result, the proportion of incentive recipients among all care workers is expected to increase from 14.9% to 37.6%.

The maximum monthly incentive will be raised to 180,000 won. For long-term care personnel working in regions with labor shortages, an additional monthly allowance of 50,000 won will be provided. The number of "senior care workers," who meet conditions such as having worked for more than five years, will be expanded to 6,500, and each will receive a monthly allowance of 150,000 won.