First-half first-year premiums reach 95.8 billion won; non-life insurers lead with 53% growth

Insurers compete on new products with exclusive rights, expanding from treatment and care to asset management

[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

The dementia and long-term care insurance market is expanding rapidly as South Korea enters a super-aged society, with new contract volumes in the first half of this year rising nearly 50 percent from two years ago.

According to the Insurance Development Institute's insurance statistics service, first-year premiums from new dementia and long-term care insurance contracts written by both life and non-life insurers totaled 95.84 billion won ($70.5 million) in the first half of this year. That marks an increase of 31.39 billion won, or 48.7 percent, from the same period in 2024.

Non-life insurers drove the growth. Their first-year premiums reached 86.53 billion won, up 29.96 billion won, or 53 percent, over the same period.

Total premium volume also grew. Combined life and non-life insurer premiums for dementia and long-term care products reached 1.83 trillion won in the first half of this year, up 200.2 billion won, or 12.3 percent, from the first half of 2024.

Industry officials attribute the surge in new policies to a sharp rise in dementia patients and the government's integrated care policy, which has broadened demand for caregiving services. The spread of caregiving burdens beyond elderly patients themselves to their adult children is also seen as a key driver of market growth.

The financial toll of dementia is substantial. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 2023 dementia survey, annual care costs per dementia patient reached 17.34 million won for those living at home and 31.38 million won for those in facilities or hospitals. Caregiving and support costs accounted for a larger share than medical treatment expenses. Among families of dementia patients living in the community, 45.8 percent said they felt burdened by caregiving, with financial strain cited as the greatest difficulty.

Projections point to a continued rise in the dementia population. The Ministry of Health and Welfare's white paper forecast that the number of Koreans aged 65 and older with dementia will reach about 1.77 million by 2040, with a prevalence rate of 10.34 percent — roughly one in 10 people. The Health Insurance Research Institute also projected in a January report that dementia treatment costs for Koreans aged 40 and older could reach as much as 4.4 trillion won by 2030.

Insurers are responding to shifting demand by rolling out products with broader coverage. Where dementia insurance once paid a fixed lump sum upon diagnosis, newer products now combine treatment and caregiving benefits with asset management features.

Hanwha Life Insurance's "Dementia Care Plus Insurance" covers treatment and caregiving costs upon a dementia diagnosis, while allowing policyholders to convert part of the contract into an annuity or savings vehicle for retirement. The company also offers a "Dementia Relief MMT" (a demand-deposit trust), which lets patients with moderate dementia draw on their assets to cover nursing care expenses.

Samsung Life Insurance has strengthened dementia treatment and long-term care coverage in its "Samsung Senior Representative Health Insurance" product. It was the first in the industry to introduce a rider covering brain hemorrhage side effects that can occur during treatment with Leqembi, a targeted Alzheimer's therapy.

AXA Non-Life Insurance has launched a simplified comprehensive insurance product that provides step-by-step coverage from an Alzheimer's diagnosis through hospitalization and caregiving.

Competition for exclusive product rights is also intensifying. Samsung Life Insurance's targeted dementia treatment coverage rider, AIA Life Insurance's rider covering early-stage dementia with amyloid PET-positive results, and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance's home caregiver support and premium care service offerings have all received exclusive use rights from the Korea Insurance Development Institute.

"As the rise of dual-income households spreads the burden of dementia and caregiving across all generations, this coverage is in effect becoming a necessity," one industry official said. "Competition to develop new riders in line with government policy will continue."


won@heraldcorp.com