Lee Jae-young (Chief, Dept of Health Policy) from the Ministry of Welfare revealed new plans for Hospice and Palliative care payment systems in a “Future of National Policies for Hospice and Palliative care” parliament meeting (hosted by Senators Moon Jung-Rim and Kang Kil-bu) held on 18 November 2014. This new policy is expected to be revealed within the end of this year.
Currently in South Korea, Hospice and Palliative care services are limited to cancer patients. In 2013, only 12% (9,573 out of the 70,534) of patients who deceased from cancer utilized Hospice and Palliative care services prior to death. Experts agreed that there is a significant lack of payment scheme for these services that work as a roadblock to expanding more Hospice and Palliative care facilities.
APHN would like to thank our member, Professor Hyun Sook Kim from the Department of Social Welfare, Korea National University of Transportation for sharing this update with us.