In the future, the ‘Health Lifestyle Practice Support Fund’ provided to patients with hypertension and diabetes who practice healthy lifestyles such as walking and education will be automatically deducted when paying medical expenses. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Corporation announced on the 14th that they would improve the pilot project of the Health Lifestyle Practice Support Fund to strengthen the health management of patients with hypertension and diabetes and those with health risk factors.
The ‘Health Lifestyle Practice Support Fund’ is a project that provides financial incentives to those who practice healthy lifestyles such as walking and education, targeting patients participating in the primary care chronic disease management project or those included in the health risk group among general health checkup recipients. With this improvement, a system has been established to allow patients to pay medical expenses within the range of their points after receiving treatment at participating primary care clinics.
Additionally, the preventive type, in which health risk groups participate, will expand the pilot project areas from the existing 15 to 50. Participants in the expanded areas can check individual notification messages sent by the National Health Insurance Corporation and apply online.
Lim Eun-jung, head of the Health Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, ‘We are continuously improving the system, such as converting the primary care chronic disease management project into a main project to manage patients with hypertension and diabetes,’ and ‘We expect that more people will practice healthy lifestyles on their own through this improvement of the Health Lifestyle Practice Support Fund.’