President Lee Jae-myung said at a Cabinet meeting on the 3rd, "Review ways to provide incentives when life-sustaining treatment is stopped." In connection with this, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is reportedly not considering monetary incentives such as health insurance premium benefits. Major countries overseas also do not provide monetary incentives and are said to actively support services related to home hospice.
◇ U.S. and Taiwan promote home hospice… when caregivers take leave, patients are admitted for short stays
Hospice is broadly divided into institutional hospice and home hospice. Stopping life-sustaining treatment can be connected in a direction that increases the use of home hospice.
In Taiwan, patients expected to die within a few months are eligible for hospice support. Hospitals remotely monitor the vital signs of patients at home. Ultrasound tests and blood tests can also be performed at home. Since last year, a 24-hour emergency response system has also been introduced.
In the United States, patients whose survival period is expected to be six months or less can use hospice services. More than six out of 10 hospice users are said to receive services at home. It is less expensive than long-term hospitalization, and there are systems for 24-hour phone consultations and emergency visits. Support measures to reduce the burden of family caregiving are also in place. A "caregiver respite service" operates to allow caregivers to take leave by admitting patients for short stays. "Hospice aides" are also assigned to help with bathing and meals.
◇ "Korea should also promote home hospice"
Domestic experts say, "To expand the stopping of life-sustaining treatment, home hospice and home-based end-of-life care services should be promoted, as in overseas cases." However, most hospice services in Korea are currently provided centered on medical institutions. As of 2024, only 3.2% of hospice patients (excluding duplicates) used home hospice services. There are only 40 institutions that provide home hospice. There is not a single one in South Jeolla, North Gyeongsang, or Sejong.
Assistant Professor Shin Eo-jin of the School of Social Work at the University of Illinois said, "We need to expand home-style hospices for end-of-life care," adding, "We should also introduce services that support dependent family members, as in the United States."
Also, in Korea, institutional hospice or home hospice is provided only to patients with specific diseases. The conditions currently eligible for hospice are ▲cancer ▲acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) ▲chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ▲chronic liver cirrhosis ▲chronic respiratory failure only. Patients with other conditions cannot receive hospice support.
On this, an official at the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "We will review expanding deaths at home and a support system for non-cancer patients together."