South Korean Aspiring President Says State Should Pay For Hair Loss Treatment | South Korea

The presidential candidate of South Korea’s ruling party has ignited a fierce debate after proposing that the country’s public health insurance should cover hair loss treatment.

Lee Jae-myung’s proposal this week has triggered a flood of messages of support in online communities for people suffering from hair loss, but has also sparked accusations that it was a blatant attempt to win votes.

Lee, a standard-bearer for the Democratic Party, said nearly 10 million people suffer from hair loss, but many of them ask for drugs abroad or turn to prostate drugs as an alternative due to the high costs of treatment.

On Wednesday, he told reporters that hair growth treatments should be covered by the national health insurance program.

“Please let us know what has been inconvenient for you with hair loss treatments and what should be reflected in the policies,” he wrote on Facebook. “I will present a perfect policy on the treatment of hair loss.”

His proposal sparked a flood of supportive messages online. “We’re going to implant Lee Jae-myung,” wrote one user, responding to a post of Lee’s hair loss taglines uploaded to an online hair loss community.

Jeong Da-eun, a mother of two, said at a meeting held Wednesday night by Lee’s party with voters suffering from hair loss that she forfeited medical treatment as it required 4 million won ($ 3,325) in six months, resorting to a good shampoo. and food instead.

But the promise fueled criticism from others, and the opposition called it the latest element on Lee’s populist agenda. Ahn Cheol-soo, a minor opposition candidate who was previously a physician and software mogul, described Lee’s proposal as irresponsible and vowed to cut prices for generic drugs and fund the development of a new treatment if elected.

“[Lee’s idea] It may seem like a necessary step for many people who worry about hair loss, but it is nothing more than serious populism, as it would worsen the financial stability of the state insurance program, ”the conservative newspaper Munhwa Ilbo said in an editorial on Thursday. .

Lee, who once said that he aspired to be a “successful Bernie Sanders”, Rose to fame thanks to his push for universal basic income and aggressive responses from Covid-19 during his tenure as governor of Gyeonggi province.

Lee Sang-ee, a professor at Jeju National University School of Medicine, said that national health insurance could fail if it spends hundreds of billions of won to cover hair loss, when it is designed to help those who suffer from serious illnesses.

There is no official data on how many South Koreans suffer from hair loss. The National Health Insurance Service only provided annual counts of people who have received hospital treatment, which was about 230,000 in 2020.

Lee Jae-myung said on Wednesday that hair loss coverage is necessary from a “body integrity” point of view, and his campaign is looking at its possible financial impact.