Jeong Eun-kyeong: Government to Review Health Insurance Coverage for Hair Loss, Prepare Basic Pension Reform

The government plans to conduct a working-level review on applying national health insurance coverage to hair loss treatments and intends to pursue the policy after gathering public opinion in the second half of this year.

Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong held a policy briefing in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on June 11 to mark the first anniversary of the current administration and outlined key policy tasks for the second half of the year.

"There are various opinions, including the view that coverage is necessary because hair loss significantly impacts the health and daily lives of young people, and the perspective that health insurance should focus on severe illnesses," Minister Jeong said. "We determined that gathering public opinion is necessary, and a survey of 1,000 people by the National Health Insurance Service yielded positive results. We plan to review the implementation by reflecting feedback from events such as the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Everyone's Discussion' scheduled for July."

The government also plans to unveil a "progressive" (higher benefits for lower-income earners) basic pension reform proposal in the second half of the year and consider a phased implementation to reduce elderly poverty.

To ensure financial stability for the elderly, the government currently provides a fixed monthly basic pension to the bottom 70% of income earners among those aged 65 and older.

Because there is a target beneficiary rate, the selection criteria change every year. Due to factors such as public pensions and rising housing asset values, these criteria (monthly recognized income) have risen to 96% of the median income.

The government is pushing for a "progressive" reform of the basic pension, taking into account the rising threshold for eligibility, the increasing fiscal burden due to rapid population aging, and the fact that elderly individuals with and without other income currently receive the same amount.

"Various discussions are taking place, and we intend to act as quickly as possible, as we must set the direction (for pension reform), amend relevant laws, and go through parliamentary deliberations, including the Special Committee on Pension Reform, within the second half of the year," Minister Jeong said.

She added, "We are conducting fiscal projections based on various scenarios, and experts generally agree in principle on strengthening support for low-income earners. It is difficult to implement the reform all at once; we will create a plan in the second half of the year, and I believe the reform will likely proceed in phases."

Noting that "there was also criticism that drastically lowering the beneficiary rate would not be appropriate," Minister Jeong added, "The government will create a proposal on the goals, content, and speed of adjusting eligibility criteria and benefit amounts, and there will be public sessions to explain it for the purpose of reaching a social consensus."

Meanwhile, she drew a line regarding criticisms that the National Pension Fund is being used to boost the domestic stock market, stating that this is not the case.

Previously, the National Pension Service held a Fund Management Committee meeting in May and raised the year-end target allocation for domestic stocks to 20.8%, up from the previous 14.9% (19.9% including the allowable deviation range).

"There was a large gap between the actual holdings (of domestic stocks) and the target ratio, and we decided to consider this because adjusting it too rapidly would have a significant impact on profitability, stability, and the market," Minister Jeong explained. "The focus was on updating and realizing (asset allocation), not on expanding (the proportion of domestic stocks)."

She also emphasized that currency hedging is a response policy for the profitability of the National Pension Fund, not an attempt to lower exchange rates as some have criticized, and stated firmly that there is no special change to the currency hedging principles decided by the Fund Management Committee.

(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.