Korea to Expand Chronic Disease Management Beyond 19 Pilot Areas

South Korea will overhaul a 14-year-old hypertension and diabetes registration program, seeking to build a nationwide chronic disease management system that covers all age groups and a wider range of illnesses.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Thursday that the current program, concentrated in 19 cities and counties, will be gradually transformed from a service focused mainly on older patients into an integrated framework for lifelong care. The agency said only about 7 percent of elderly patients nationwide currently receive support through the existing scheme.

Under the current arrangement, people with hypertension or diabetes can register at designated medical institutions or local centers for help with treatment and the prevention of complications. Patients aged 65 or older in participating areas can also receive partial medical-cost assistance.

The initiative began in one local government in 2007 and expanded to 19 areas by 2012, but it has not grown since then. Officials cited the program’s narrow geographic reach and the early exhaustion of medical-support budgets as the elderly population increased.

The revised system will gradually add other major chronic illnesses and expand eligibility from people aged 30 or older to all age groups. The government says that change is intended to improve care across a person’s life, including support for children, teenagers and young adults with diabetes.

The agency also said financial assistance would be redesigned rather than eliminated. At present, eligible patients aged 65 or older in the pilot regions can receive up to 42,000 won per year. Under the planned linkage with the Health Ministry’s primary-care chronic disease program, participants of any age could qualify for benefits worth up to 80,000 won annually.

Those benefits would come through the Health Promotion Incentive program, which rewards activities such as walking and participation in education or counseling. Points financed through the national health insurance system can be issued on a card and used in a manner similar to cash.

The plan has nevertheless drawn opposition from an association representing hypertension and diabetes registration centers nationwide. The group argues that the government is understating the performance of the existing program and overstating the accessibility of the replacement benefits. It said ending national funding for an established service while expanding the number of centers does not necessarily amount to universal care.

The association called instead for the current model to be expanded nationwide and placed on a firmer institutional basis. It warned that broader eligibility could still leave current beneficiaries worse off if the overall budget falls or if direct medical-cost support becomes less tangible.