[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Approved for Long-Term Care, but '0' Benefits in a Year... More Than 180,000

Regional Gap Exceeds Fourfold

More than 180,000 people who were approved for long-term care benefits did not use any benefits in the past year, according to recent data. Even among those in Grade 1, the most severe category, more than 10,000 did not use any benefits. This has prompted calls to assess their actual care situations and the availability of services in different regions.

Yonhap News Agency

So Byunghoon, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker representing Gwangju Gap in Gyeonggi Province, said during the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee's audit of the National Health Insurance Service and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service on October 16 that he had told Kang Cheonghee, president of the National Health Insurance Service: "As of July this year, 181,181 of the 1.28 million people approved for long-term care had not used any long-term care benefits in the past year. That amounts to about 14.2% of all those approved."

There were also 11,835 non-users in Grade 1, the most severe category. Regional disparities were also pronounced. The rate of non-use among people approved for Grade 1 benefits was 42.5% in Seo-gu, Busan, about four times the 10.7% in Wonju, Gangwon Province.

However, the National Health Insurance Service was found not to be separately examining these figures. "I asked the Service about the non-use rate and regional disparities, but was told that it does not analyze or manage them separately," So said. "The fact that someone is not using benefits does not, by itself, mean there is a gap in care. Still, we must check whether older people with severe needs are going without necessary services." He added, "I urge the Service to first determine the actual care situations of non-users and why they are not using benefits."

So also called for an urgent, comprehensive check of about 930 older non-users aged 85 or older who have multiple risk factors, including living alone, dementia, and being classified in long-term care Grades 1 or 2. Kang said that, following So's concerns, the Service had conducted a comprehensive survey of the 930 people.

So also stressed that the Service's consultations with non-users must not be reduced to simply boosting performance figures. He said the Service should establish priority management criteria that take into account risk factors such as health status and whether a person lives alone or has dementia, and should follow up to determine why older people who continue not to use benefits after consultation are doing so, then provide them with intensive care. He also urged the Service to link its existing work supporting long-term care users with efforts to identify and connect people eligible for integrated care, and to check whether those efforts lead to actual service provision.

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