Expanding Coverage for Severe Type 2 Diabetes: What Challenges Remain? Symposium to Be Held on the 15th

[Financial News] Starting this December, patients with severe type 2 diabetes will also receive support for continuous glucose monitoring devices (CGMs) and automated insulin delivery devices. However, concerns have been raised that the eligibility criteria and support arrangements do not adequately reflect needs on the ground. A forum will be held to discuss ways to address these shortcomings.
The Korean Medical and Bio Journalists Association announced on the 12th that it will jointly host a symposium with the Korean Diabetes Association (KDA) on the 15th in Room 311 of the COEX Magok Convention Center in Seoul. The symposium is titled “A New Paradigm in Diabetes Treatment: Expanding Benefits and Reducing the Burden for Patients with Severe Diabetes.”
Last September, the Ministry of Health and Welfare approved the “Phase 1 Innovation Plan for Health Insurance Coverage” at the National Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee. Under the plan, starting this December, patients with severe type 2 diabetes at the level of pancreatic disability or islet failure will also receive reimbursement for medical care expenses for CGMs and automated insulin delivery devices, and will be included in the pilot home-care program.
However, challenges remain. Critics say that assessing the level of pancreatic disability using a single indicator does not adequately reflect patients’ actual disease severity or treatment needs. Concerns have also been raised that the medical-care-expense reimbursement model, in which patients purchase devices themselves and then claim the costs, makes it difficult to provide ongoing care, including training by medical staff, device setup and home monitoring.
In the first session of the symposium, Kim Nam-hun, head of the KDA Diabetes Specialty Task Force and a professor in the Department of Endocrinology at Korea University Anam Hospital, will speak on “Type 2 Diabetes with Pancreatic Disability or Islet Failure: The Significance of Severe Type 2 Diabetes and the Importance of Management.” Kim Jong-hwa, the KDA’s director for insurance affairs and a professor in the Department of Endocrinology at Bucheon Sejong Hospital, will speak on “The Significance of Expanding Coverage for CGMs and Other Treatments for Patients with Severe Diabetes, and Possible Alternatives.”
The panel discussion that follows will bring together Yun Jae-seung, the KDA’s director for digital health and a professor in the Department of Endocrinology at St. Vincent’s Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea; Kwon Yeong-in, policy planning team leader at the Youth Foundation; Seo Jeong-yun, executive director for general affairs at the Korean Medical and Bio Journalists Association; and Yu Jeong-min, head of the Health Insurance Benefits Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. They will discuss policy directions for shifting to treatment systems suited to the pathophysiology of the disease and ensuring sustainable diabetes management.
  

[email protected] Jeong Myeong-jin, Medical Affairs Correspondent Reporter