Health insurance coverage rate of 64.9% in 2023...0.8% p lower year-on-year

The health insurance coverage rate in 2023 was 64.9%, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous year.

If a health insurance patient incurred 1 million won in medical expenses, it means that 649,000 won was paid by health insurance and 350,000 won was paid by the patient himself.

The total medical expenses, including non-benefit for health insurance patients in 2023, increased by 10.3% year-on-year to 133 trillion won.

By type of medical institution, the coverage rate for general hospital level or higher was 68.6%, down 1 percentage point from the previous year, and for hospitals, it was 50.2%, down 1.2 percentage points.

The coverage rate fell 3.4 percentage points to 57.3% as non-payments for flu treatment injections and respiratory disease tests surged at the clinic level, leading to a drop in the overall coverage rate.

However, the coverage rates for the four major diseases and the top 30 severe and high medical expenses per person were 81.8% and 80.9%, respectively, up slightly from the previous year.

In the case of children aged 0 to 5, the coverage rate was 67.4%, down 0.6 percentage points from the previous year, as the occurrence of respiratory diseases and the use of pharmacies with high legal out-of-pocket rates increased.