Now, insurance plans with exclusive coverage for dementia have become increasingly available, covering charges for diagnosis and treatment related to dementia. (image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Insurance plans for Alzheimer’s disease have jumped in sales after the illness gained public interest in recent months.
The Korea Credit Information Services reported on Wednesday that the number of applications for Alzheimer’s insurance plans reached 1.3 million early last year, up threefold since the second half of the previous year (434,000).
Insurance plans that cover early-stage dementia have increased by 4.5 times in number over the past six months.
Insurance plans with exclusive coverage for dementia are also gaining popularity, going from 8 percent in 2017 to 52 percent in 2018 and 78 percent in 2019.
Originally, insurance plans for dementia came as special contracts attached to a comprehensive insurance plan that covers multiple diseases.
Now, insurance plans with exclusive coverage for dementia have become increasingly available, covering charges for diagnosis and treatment related to dementia.
They are known to offer better insurance policies for dementia compared to comprehensive insurance plans.
The proportion of insurance plans with exclusive coverage for early-stage dementia was 79.1 percent, easily surpassing that of comprehensive plans (28.5 percent).
They also had a higher maximum age limit (89.9 years) than the comprehensive plans (83 years).
More women and seniors have signed up for exclusive plans for dementia than comprehensive ones. Female applicants comprised 68 percent of all applicants for exclusive plans, and 60.2 percent for comprehensive plans.
By age, applicants for the exclusive plans included those in their 50s (40.5 percent), followed by those in their 60s (27.2 percent), and those in their 40s (20.7 percent).
Applicants for the comprehensive plans included those in their 50s (25.2 percent), followed by those in their 40s (24.5 percent) and 30s (16.1 percent).
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
