Gimcheon City Launches Medical Expense Support Program for Cancer Patients and Patients with Rare Diseases

Cancer and Rare Diseases Require Continuous Treatment and Testing
Alleviating the Psychological and Financial Burden on Patients and Their Families

Gimcheon City in North Gyeongsang Province is taking the lead in promoting public health by operating the “Medical Expense Support Program for Cancer Patients and Patients with Rare Diseases” year-round on a continuous basis for low-income citizens who are battling cancer and rare diseases.

The “Cancer Patient Medical Expense Support Program” is being implemented to ease the financial burden on patients facing high treatment costs.

For adult cancer patients, medical benefit recipients and near-poverty beneficiaries whose copayments are reduced can receive up to 3 million won per year for three consecutive years. In addition, under a separate Gimcheon City program, those who fall within the bottom 50% of National Health Insurance premium payers are provided with a one-time payment of 1 million won.

For pediatric cancer patients (under 18), not only medical benefit recipients and near-poverty beneficiaries whose copayments are reduced, but also National Health Insurance enrollees who meet the income and asset criteria, can receive up to 30 million won per year for three consecutive years.

The “Rare Disease Medical Expense Support Program” has added 75 conditions this year, bringing the total number of eligible diseases to 1,413, and has further expanded the pool of beneficiaries by partially easing the income and asset criteria.

To qualify, individuals must be registered under the special case calculation program of the National Health Insurance Service and must be either medical benefit recipients, near-poverty beneficiaries whose copayments are reduced, or National Health Insurance enrollees who meet the income and asset criteria.

Through this program, the city provides broad support not only for copayments for insured medical services, but also, depending on the condition, for nursing care costs, the cost of purchasing assistive devices, rental fees for cough-inducing devices, and the cost of purchasing special dietary foods.

Those who wish to apply for the “Medical Expense Support Program for Cancer Patients and Patients with Rare Diseases” should prepare the required documents, such as a medical certificate in line with the support details, and apply in person at the Health Promotion Division of Gimcheon City Health Center.

Medical expenses will be provided after review, based on the applicant’s income level and the type of disease. For more detailed information, inquiries can be made to the Chronic Disease Management Team of the Health Promotion Division at Gimcheon City Health Center.

Son Jungil, Head of the Health Promotion Division at Gimcheon City Health Center, stated, “Because cancer and rare diseases require continuous treatment and testing, it is important to reduce the psychological and economic burden on patients and their families. Therefore, we will work to create an environment in which eligible individuals can focus on treatment and recovery through smooth and wide-ranging medical expense support.”

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