Starting next year, the criteria for medical expense support for pediatric cancer patients will be significantly eased.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 27th released a partial amendment to the Notice on Criteria for Medical Expense Support for Cancer Patients and said it will take effect Jan. 1 next year.
The core is raising the income threshold for selecting support recipients. By applying 120% of the standard median income for next year, more households will be able to receive benefits than before.
A notable change is the standard for a four-person household. A four-person household with a monthly income of 7,793,686 won or less can apply for pediatric cancer medical expense support. For a three-person household the threshold is 6,430,843 won per month, for a two-person household 5,039,150 won, and for a one-person household 3,070,786 won.
The more household members, the higher the threshold amount, expanding the scope of support to the 9.06 million won range for five-person households and the 10 million won range for six-person households.
The asset threshold will also be subdivided to match household size. For a four-person household, those holding assets of about 483,890,000 won or less will be eligible. For a three-person household it is about 451,210,000 won, and for a one-person household it is around 370,790,000 won.
The ministry said the goal of this adjustment is to reduce cases where people cannot receive needed medical expense support even if they own just one home.
Eligible recipients are children and adolescents under 18 as of the date of registration, and certain cancer types such as malignant neoplasms (C00–C97) are included. Even if an existing beneficiary turns 18 in 2026, support will continue.
Administrative forms will also be updated. The power-of-attorney form submitted when applying for medical expense support will be revised to clarify the principle of submitting an ID and a handwritten signature for proxy applications. The personal information management system will change to semi-permanent retention to prevent duplicate support and enable long-term management. The forms will also specify the possibility of criminal punishment for fraudulent receipt to preempt moral hazard.
This amendment will proceed without separate budget measures or agreement from other ministries and will be applied immediately on New Year's Day next year.