A, an older adult living alone with dementia, was having trouble managing assets. At that time, A learned about the National Pension Service's "dementia asset protection and management service." The National Pension Service visited A's home to review asset status and monthly expenditure details. A had about 20 million won in cash-like assets and a monthly income of 1.2 million won, including the basic pension. Based on this, the National Pension Service analyzed A's spending pattern and decided to pay 1.26 million won each month (330,000 won in rent, 130,000 won in utilities, and 800,000 won in living expenses) from A's assets.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said that four contracts have been signed to use the "dementia asset protection and management service," under which the National Pension Service holds a dementia patient's assets in trust and regularly pays out a portion of those assets.
According to the ministry on Jul. 7, the service is in a pilot program, and 1,271 inquiries have been received so far. Of these, 118 were applications, 34 moved to in-depth counseling, and four led to signed contracts. The dementia asset protection and management service was introduced to prevent economic abuse in which a nursing home patient's assets are used without authorization. To fully reflect the dementia patient's intent and needs when drawing up a financial plan, multiple counseling sessions are conducted, so it takes one to two months from counseling to contract signing.
For urgent and important expenditure not included in the plan, such as surgery costs, a guardian must submit an application for special expenditure payment to the National Pension Service to receive funds. At that time, considering the possibility that a third party could improperly siphon off the dementia patient's assets, the National Pension Service decides whether to pay after a review by the dementia asset protection and management committee.
Im Eul-gi, senior official for aging policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "If you find an older adult who needs asset management not only at dementia safety centers and nursing facilities on the ground but also at front-line sites such as senior welfare centers, please actively connect them to the National Pension Service."