The insurance policy is a product with a lowered threshold so that people with chronic diseases who are taking medicine due to high blood pressure and those with medical history can also qualify. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Mar. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on Wednesday that there have been 270,000 medical insurance subscriptions over the past 10 months for a new insurance policy that was launched last year.
The insurance policy, which was released in April of last year, is a product with a lowered threshold so that people with chronic diseases who are taking medicine due to high blood pressure and those with medical history can also qualify.
The age at which people can join has also increased from 65 to 75.
Subscribers pay 30 percent of medical fees, higher than general insurance by 20 percent, and the minimum co-pay is 100,000 won (US$88.73) when hospitalized and 20,000 won when visiting a clinic.
The number of subscriptions stood at 268,000 as of the end of January.
In the first month after its launch, 49,000 people bought the insurance, and since then, about 20,000 subscriptions have been made per month.
A total of 90.1 billion won (US$80 million) were collected in premiums, and 14.3 billion won was paid out for 46,870 claims.
Cho Nam-kyung, deputy director general of the FSS’ insurance supervision bureau, said, “We expect premiums to increase for the time being because of its early stage. We expect insurance products to stabilize after having been established for more than three years.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
