Strengths of the Long Term Care in South Korea

Long-Term Care in South Korea: Strengths of the Korean Long-Term Care Insurance Scheme (LTCI)
Adopted in 2008, the South Korean Long-Term Care (LTCI) Insurance seeks to advance care to the elderly, and assumes the social insurance format (Rhee, Done, Anderson, 2015).
To begin with, LTCI succeeds in the further enhancement of the health of the country’s elderly citizens. It is important to note that the incidence of chronic diseases, as it has been demonstrated in various research studies, rises with advancement in age. These diseases and conditions could have a serious impact on not only the health of those affected, but also on their overall wellbeing. South Korea, as Rhee, Done, Anderson (2015) observe, “is an example of a rapidly aging country that is currently experiencing the demographic transition that many middle-income countries will soon experience…” LTCI ensures that the livelihood of the country’s citizens is stabilized. This is particularly important so as to minimize the challenges they encounter during their post-retirement life.
Secondly, LTCI ensures that families are empowered economically by helping them in elderly support. This is more so the case given that with LTCI, the potentially heavy burden of caring for the elderly is relieved from the said families. In this case, the provision of care for the elderly citizens is seen as not only being a familial responsibility, but also a state and societal duty. According to a working paper by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – ESCAP (2016), with the introduction of LTCI, “the selective and residual long-term care services were transformed into universal care services” (20). Thus thanks to LTCI, what South Korea has is more of a universal welfare where the responsibility of care is shared across the board. This could be distinguished from selective welfare, where the focus could be on persons with no families.
Third, as a consequence of LTCI, providers are forced to provide better services in a more sustainable format. This is more so the case given that as ESCAP (2016) points out, with LTCI, long-term care services are now beneficiary centered, as opposed to provider-centered – which means that beneficiaries in this case are permitted to select a service provider.
Fourth, care for the country’s elderly is perceived as a policy issue under LTCI (Rhee, Done, Anderson, 2015). This not only formalizes, but also institutionalizes the country’s poverty relief policy on this specific front. Thus LTCI, in a social insurance format, effectively fulfills the role of a social security policy.















References
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – ESCAP (2016). SDD-SPPS Project Working Papers Series Long-Term Care for Older Persons in Asia and the Pacific. Retrieved from http://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Long-term%20care%20for%20older%20persons%20in%20the%20Republic%20of%20Korea.pdf
Rhee, J.C., Done, N. & Anderson, G.F. (2015). Considering Long-Term Care Insurance for Middle-Income Countries: Comparing South Korea with Japan and Germany. Health Policy, 119(10), 1319-1329.