A Study on the Long-term Care Insurance System for the Elderly with Focus on Germany, Japan, and Korea
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Na Yong Sun 
Published: June 2018

Since the middle of the 20th century, the greatest change in most countries of the world is the intensification of the aging phenomenon, resulting from the increase in aging population. Korea is no exception. During the years 1999 and 2000, Korea entered the aging society as the aging population accounted for 7% of the entire population, and its aging has proceeded fastest in the world.
Such an aging society has brought about the issue of supporting the senior citizens together with the increase in medical expenses for the aged, and the issue that has expanded from family problems to social problems that need the government intervention. From the middle of the 1970s, Germany recognized the independent need for long-term care, and underwent active discussion about it and the Pflegeversicherung bill was passed in the Reichstag on April 22, 1994, the 11 volumes of German social law books were compiled, and payments of facilities salaries were enforced effective July 1996, and Japan also has enforced the Long-term Care Act effective April 1, 2000. Due to this, Japan abolished the system of preferential measures for the low-income class which had been the basis of social welfare and restructured the social welfare system into the insurance system with emphasis given to the middle class. Korea, which entered the aging society slightly later than this, began to discuss countermeasures by establishing so-called the Long-term Care Insurance System for the Elderly Planning Group’ within the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and ‘the Long-term Care Insurance System for the Elderly Law’ was enacted in the 226th provisional session of the National Assembly on April 2, 2007 (Law No.8493, promulgated on April 27, 2007), and the long-term care insurance for the elderly was enforced on July 1, 2008.
So this study examined the long-term care insurance system for the elderly that has been enforced for 2 years and derived expected problems by conducting comparative analysis on the systems of advanced countries that have already enforced similar systems, particularly, the above-mentioned systems of Germany and Japan, and then attempted to present six practical policy implications that can contribute to maintaining sustainable system and successful establishment of the system. First, the solutions to the problems of regional imbalance of long-term care organizations (facilities) of Korea should be explored. Second, the expenses that the users bear should be gradually reduced. Third, the schemes of vitalizing to secure specialized manpower should be materialized. Fourth, the schemes of enhancing the quality of the long-term care services should be presented. Fifth, the schemes of vitalizing the recipients of pay should be explored. Sixth, concrete ways of securing financial stability should be explored.
From now on, all the countries of the world will turn into a new world that has never been experienced before. It is a super-aged society following the aging phenomenon. This is certainly a crisis and a challenge. It should be remembered that wise choice and thorough preparations only can overcome the crisis and make new opportunities.