South Korea’s ruling party presidential candidate has ignited a fierce debate after proposing that the country’s public healthcare insurance should cover hair loss treatment.

Lee Jae-myung, the flag bearer of the Democratic party, said almost 10 million people suffer from hair loss but many of them order medicines from overseas or resort to prostate drugs as an alternative due to high treatment costs.

Insurance will usually pay to treat the conditions that cause hair loss — just not the hair loss itself.

Last week the politician told reporters that hair regrowth treatments should be covered by the national health insurance program.

“Please, let us know what has been inconvenient for you over hair-loss treatments and what must be reflected in policies,” he wrote on Facebook. “I’ll present a perfect policy on hair-loss treatment.”

His proposal triggered a flood of messages of support online. “Let’s implant Lee Jae-myung for us,” a user wrote, replying to a post of Lee’s slogans on hair loss uploaded to an online hair loss community.

But Lee’s pledge brought criticism too, with the opposition calling it the latest item on Lee’s populist agenda.

Ahn Cheol-soo, a minor opposition candidate who was formerly a doctor and software tycoon, described Lee’s proposal as irresponsible and promised to cut the prices of generic drugs and fund the development of new treatment if elected.

“[Lee’s idea] may appear to be a necessary step for many people worrying about their hair loss but it’s nothing but serious populism, given that it would worsen the financial stability of the state insurance program,” the conservative Munhwa Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial on Thursday.

Lee, who once said he aspired to be a “successful Bernie Sanders,” has shot to fame on the back of his push for universal basic income and aggressive COVID-19 responses during his stint as Gyeonggi province governor.

Lee Sang-ee, a professor at Jeju National University’s medical school, said the national health insurance might falter if it spends hundreds of billions of won to cover hair loss, when it is designed to help those suffering from serious ailments.

There is no official data on how many South Koreans suffer from hair loss. The National Health Insurance Service only provided yearly tallies of people who have received hospital treatment, which was about 230,000 in 2020.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【替代品】tìdàipǐn alternative a possible or remaining choice

【民粹主义的】míncuì zhǔyì de populist trying to be popular with ordinary people and to represent their ideas and opinions

韩国执政党总统候选人提出该国的公共医疗保险应涵盖脱发治疗，该言论引发激烈讨论。

民主党总统候选人李在明表示，近1000万人有脱发困扰，但由于治疗费用高昂，许多人只能从海外订购药物或使用前列腺疾病药物作为替代药。

健康保险只能报销导致脱发的特定疾病的治疗费用，而非脱发本身。

李在明上周告诉记者，生发治疗应该纳入韩国健康保险计划。

他在脸书上写道：“请告诉我们，你们在治疗脱发时遇到哪些不便，以及政策必须涵盖的方面。我将提出一个完美的脱发治疗政策。”

他的提议在网上获得大量支持者。一位网友在某脱发论坛上一篇关于李在明的脱发问题竞选标语的帖子中回复：“让我们把李在明种在青瓦台”。

但李在明的竞选承诺也招致了批评，反对派称这是李在明民粹主义的新花招。

反对党候选人安哲秀称李在明的提议不负责任，并承诺如果他当选，将降低仿制药的价格，并资助新疗法研发。安哲秀曾是一名医生和软件行业大佬。

韩国保守党报纸《文化日报》上周四在一篇社论中称：“对于许多担心脱发问题的人来说，（李在明的想法）可能是必要的，但这只不过是一种危险的民粹主义，因为这会恶化国家保险计划的财政稳定性。”

李在明曾表示，他渴望成为“成功的伯尼•桑德斯”。他在担任京畿道知事期间，因推行国民基本收入政策和积极的新冠防疫政策而一举成名。

济州国立大学医学院教授李尚义（音译）说，国家健康保险是用于帮助重病患者的，如果还要从中花费数千亿韩元来补贴脱发者，那么可能会出现问题。

没有官方数据显示有多少韩国人脱发。韩国国家健康保险局仅提供了每年住院治疗脱发的人数，2020年约为23万。

(chinadaily.com.cn)