December 17, 2025
SEOUL – President Lee Jae Myung asked the government to review the possibility of treatment for hereditary hair loss being covered under the mandatory national health insurance during a livestreamed year-end policy briefing Tuesday.
Saying that treating hair loss is being considered “a matter of survival” by some among the young generation, Lee said that bringing such treatments into state health coverage should be considered.
Questioned on the issue, Health Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said that treatments for hair loss arising from medical conditions are covered. However, hereditary hair loss is not, as the condition is not considered to have symptoms or have life life-threatening impact.
In response, Lee said, “It seems to me that you are claiming baldness due to hereditary causes is not a disease, and therefore cannot be covered (by the national health insurance). But is it just a matter of whether to define hereditary disease as a disease?”
Lee also said, “Back then, medical services for baldness were regarded as ones for cosmetic purposes, but nowadays these are regarded as a matter of survival,” in response to Jeong’s stance that hair loss is not considered a life-threatening illness.
Lee suggested that limiting the number of insurance coverages a beneficiary can claim for hair loss could be a way to ease the financial burden on the state-backed mandatory national health insurance system.
The same can apply to other services for diseases such as obesity, as South Korea has provided insurance coverage for the surgical reduction of the stomach, as Lee’s remarks implied that drug treatment should also be under such coverage.
“More young people are increasingly ostracized,” Lee said, claiming that fewer people in the young generation believed they became beneficiaries of government monetary support for medical services they needed.