Billowing Costs: Smoking-Related Medical Expenses Hit 17 Trillion Won, Sparking Financial Drain Concerns

Smoking-related expenditures in health insurance finances are steadily increasing.

According to data received by Rep. Baek Jong-heon from the National Health Insurance Corporation on the 27th, medical expenses due to smoking over the past five years amount to 17.3758 trillion won.

As of 2023, health insurance medical expenses due to smoking amounted to KRW 3.8589 trillion and salary expenses amounted to KRW 3.2591 trillion, an increase of 15.4% compared to the previous year.

By age group, those in their 60s received the largest amount of benefits at 1.059 trillion won (793,000 people).

As of 2019, 50,942 men and 7,094 women over the age of 30 died due to direct smoking, for a total of 58,036 people, or 159 deaths per day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated in a report that the degree to which smoking contributes to cancer occurrence is quite high: 97.5% for small cell carcinoma of the lung, 96.4% for squamous cell carcinoma, and 85.3% for laryngeal cancer.

Continuous exposure to secondhand smoke can increase health risks, including a decline in lung function, similar to that of a smoker who smokes 5-10 cigarettes a day.

The relative risk of cancer for smokers compared to non-smokers was 41.2 times for lung cancer and 6.8 times for laryngeal cancer, showing a strong correlation with smoking.

Rep. Baek Jong-heon emphasized, “The government must make efforts to prevent health insurance financial leakage.”