Transport allowance for care workers on islands to rise 120% from October

Starting in October, the daily transport allowance for care workers who provide in-home long-term care services on islands will rise 120 percent — from 6,800 won ($4.90) to 15,000 won. Six additional municipalities will also be added to the list of areas eligible for a monthly 50,000-won rural long-term care worker subsidy.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the support expansion measures Wednesday after they were approved at the year's first Long-Term Care Committee meeting, held at the International Electronics Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Islands without bridge connections to the mainland require boat travel, making care service delivery costly and time-consuming.

As a result, long-term care recipients on such islands have long struggled to secure care workers willing to provide in-home services.

In February, President Lee Jae Myung directed officials at a town hall meeting in South Gyeongsang Province to develop concrete support measures for care recipients on sparsely populated islands after attendees raised the issue.

Taking into account field feedback and actual transportation costs, the government plans to raise the transport allowance — paid to care workers who travel to islands with no in-home care or bathing service providers — to 2.2 times the current rate.

The government will also expand eligibility for the rural long-term care worker subsidy to help recruit more care workers.

A monthly supplemental allowance of 50,000 won, previously paid in 52 municipalities that overlap both depopulation and medically underserved designations, will be extended to six medically underserved municipalities that had been left out. Island areas where care facility access is so limited that family caregiver payments are already available will also be brought into the program.

The government will additionally revise the benefit calculation standards for care workers who are family members of island-based care recipients.

Under current rules, when a family member serves as a care worker providing in-home care, reimbursable hours are capped at 60 minutes per day in principle. A 90-minute allowance is granted only when the care worker is 65 or older and caring for a spouse, or when the recipient has dementia-related behavioral issues. Going forward, island care recipients receiving in-home care from a family member care worker will also qualify for the 90-minute daily benefit calculation.

The committee also reviewed research findings on a proposed new long-term care rating system that would strengthen assessments of cognitive function and medical needs, and discussed ways to improve the current framework.

Calls for reform have persisted since the long-term care insurance system was introduced, prompting the Ministry of Health and Welfare to study rating system overhaul options since 2018. From 2023 through last year, pilot programs assessed the feasibility and on-the-ground acceptability of proposed changes. The ministry plans to finalize a new rating system based on the research findings.

A long-term care reform advisory panel — chaired by Suk Jae-eun, a professor at Hallym University, and operating since May — is also working to map out medium- and long-term policy directions that reflect the growing diversity of care needs. The panel will report its findings to the committee upon completing its work.

Hyeon Su-yeop, first vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and chair of the Long-Term Care Committee, said building the infrastructure for timely care delivery is essential as South Korea navigates its transition to a super-aged society. "We will work to eliminate gaps in care coverage and establish a systemic foundation that accurately reflects the needs of service users," he said.