South Korea spent 6 trillion won (US $ 4.6 billion) to treat old age diseases last year due to an aging population.
According to the data of the National Health Insurance (NHIS) announced on February 14, the above figure increased by 28% compared to 5 years ago.
Also according to pediatric, the cost of treating age diseases in 2019 is 5.6 trillion won. By 2023, the figure increased by 19.3%. In particular, in the first half of 2024, this cost reached 2.9 trillion won, bringing the total expenditure to about 6 trillion won by the end of the year. The main diseases are dementia, diabetes, blood pressure, cardiovascular …
Not only the cost, the number of patients treated also increased sharply. In 2019, about 2 million Koreans suffer from age -related diseases. By 2023, this figure increased to 2.3 million – equivalent to an increase of 16%. Particularly in the first half of 2024, the number of patients touched 1.8 million.
The elderly at a Korean nursing home. Image:AFP
The elderly group in Korea continues to increase in the context of decreasing birth rate. The number of people aged 65 and older receiving health insurance benefits also exceeded 10 million in November last year. As of June, 9.4 million people aged 65 and over, participated in public health insurance. When plus the population is subject to low income support and those who receive medical subsidies within the same age, the total number of people exceeds 10 million.
“We need to prepare a comprehensive long -term long -term care service system for elderly patients, so that they can be taken care of safely, fully and diverse in a super old society,” a representative The Association said.
According to 2022 analysis of the General Statistics Office, Korea will be the most spending country in the world for caring for the elderly in 2070.
With rapid aging speed, the population of 65 and older of this country will account for about 46.4% of the total population in the next 50 years, that is, a person of working age must support an elderly person.