Bald Voters root for Lee’s announcement of health insurance coverage for hair loss treatment.
Lee Jae Myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, is receiving ardent support from voters suffering hair loss, thanks to a campaign pledge to expand national health insurance coverage to include hair loss treatment (Kang, 2022).
According to an online community for people with thinning hair, several posts have to express their support for the Democratic Party candidate. The Democratic Party of Korea’s election committee plans to announce the final policy promise after comprehensively viewing the financial stability of the National Health Insurance Service and copay by the insured. According to the official election committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, hair loss occurs in the young and elderly, while young people also pay health insurance premiums. They have benefited less from it. If hair loss treatment is added in the health insurance, young people will also see the benefit (Bicker, 2022),
South Korea’s ruling party presidential candidate has ignited a fierce debate after proposing that country’s public health care insurance should cover hair loss treatment. This week, Lee Jae Myung’s proposal has triggered a flood of messages of support on online communication for people suffering from hair loss. Lee, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate, said almost 10 million people suffer from hair loss. Still, many of them order medicine from overseas or resort to prostate drugs as an alternative due to high treatment costs (Bicker 2022).
There is no official data on how many South Koreans suffer from hair loss. The National Health Insurance Service only provided tallies of people who have received hospital treatment, which was about 230,000 in 2020. Lee. said on Wednesday that hair loss is necessary from the aspect of “body completeness,” and his campaign is studying its potential financial impact (Kang, 2022)
Bicker, Laura, (2022) South Korea should fund hair loss treatment, says election hopeful in bald bid for power, The Guardians, Published on 6th January 2022.
Kang Seung Woo, (2022) Bald Voters root for Lee’s pledge of health coverage for hair loss treatment, The Korean Times, Published on 5th January 2022.
