Long-Term Care Insurance and Medical Services for the Elderly: The Role of the Healthcare Industry

Abstract

The long-term care insurance for the elderly system was officially implemented in July 2008, following a 3-year pilot program starting in 2005. The purpose of this system was to improve the quality of life of seniors and reduce the burden of care among family members, given the growing elderly population. By 2021, the scale of the system had increased by two to four times, with 860,000 beneficiaries and 9,824,800,000,000 KRW worth of insurance benefits. In line with this increase, it is necessary to efficiently establish and improve the system so that it can directly meet the medical needs of the beneficiaries. This may serve to reduce the rapidly increasing expenditure related to the elderly medical expenses, which in turn leads to a decrease in societal costs. In conclusion, senior care needs to be properly established and implemented in order to create organic intra- and inter-field connections between medicine, healthcare, and welfare.