Plan the full monthly cost of Korean day and night care
A Korean long-term-care day/night center bill is not simply the daily fee multiplied by the beneficiary's copay rate. The official daily benefit price changes with the long-term-care grade and recorded service duration. Evening service and public holidays can add benefit charges, other home-care benefits consume the same monthly cap, and meals or other non-covered items sit outside NHIS support.
This calculator applies the 2026 national rate table, the grade-specific home-care monthly cap, the confirmed 15%, 9%, 6%, or 0% copay category, and user-entered center quotes. It is designed for a beneficiary who already has a Korean Long-Term Care Insurance recognition decision and is comparing actual monthly schedules. It does not predict a care grade, recommend a provider, or issue an NHIS eligibility decision.
Official 2026 daily benefit rates
The values below are the total benefit cost before the patient copay: NHIS payment plus the beneficiary's covered copay. They exclude meal ingredients, snacks, grooming, and other confirmed non-covered charges. Use the service time recorded by the center, not only the planned pickup and drop-off time.
Korea 2026 day and night care daily benefit rates by duration and long-term-care grade| Recorded duration | Grade 1 | Grade 2 | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Cognitive |
|---|
| 3 to under 6 hours | KRW 41,820 | KRW 38,720 | KRW 35,740 | KRW 34,120 | KRW 32,490 | KRW 32,490 |
| 6 to under 8 hours | KRW 56,060 | KRW 51,930 | KRW 47,940 | KRW 46,300 | KRW 44,650 | KRW 44,650 |
| 8 to under 10 hours | KRW 69,730 | KRW 64,590 | KRW 59,640 | KRW 58,010 | KRW 56,360 | KRW 56,360 |
| 10 to 13 hours inclusive | KRW 76,820 | KRW 71,160 | KRW 65,750 | KRW 64,090 | KRW 62,460 | KRW 56,360 |
| Over 13 hours | KRW 82,370 | KRW 76,310 | KRW 70,500 | KRW 68,860 | KRW 67,240 | KRW 56,360 |
Time-band boundaries matter
A visit under three hours is estimated at 80% of the three-to-under-six-hour rate for the selected grade. Exactly eight hours enters the eight-to-under-ten-hour band. Exactly thirteen hours remains in the ten-to-thirteen-hour band; only a duration above thirteen hours enters the final band. An end time that is not later than the start time is treated as invalid rather than guessed to cross midnight.
Grade-specific monthly home-care caps
Grade 1KRW 2,512,900
Grade 2KRW 2,331,200
Grade 3KRW 1,528,200
Grade 4KRW 1,409,700
Grade 5KRW 1,208,900
Cognitive-support gradeKRW 676,320
The cap is consumed by total benefit cost, not only by the amount the beneficiary pays. Enter other cap-counted home-care services for the same month as the combined NHIS share plus patient copay. Once combined benefit cost exceeds the effective cap, the excess becomes full patient payment even for a beneficiary whose ordinary covered copay is reduced or exempt.
Choose a copay category only after confirmation
- Standard Korean home-care benefits use a 15% patient copay within the cap.
- An NHIS-confirmed 40% reduction changes the effective patient rate to 9%.
- An NHIS-confirmed 60% reduction changes the effective patient rate to 6%.
- A qualifying Medical Aid exemption can make the within-cap covered copay 0%, but it does not erase cap excess or non-covered charges.
How the monthly estimate is built
- The calculator converts each schedule group's start and end time to minutes and selects the official daily rate band.
- For a non-holiday visit, the portion overlapping 18:00 to 22:00 receives a prorated 20% evening add-on.
- A public-holiday visit receives a 30% add-on to the base daily rate. The holiday and evening add-ons are not stacked on the same visit.
- Actual day/night-care benefit cost, an optional qualifying missed-day fee, and other cap-counted home-care benefits are compared with the effective monthly cap.
- The selected copay rate applies only to the within-cap amount. Above-cap benefit cost is added as full household payment.
- Total meals and snacks from the schedule are multiplied by each center's confirmed quote, then other monthly non-covered charges are added.
Evening add-on example
A grade 3 visit from 09:00 to 19:00 lasts 600 minutes and uses the KRW 65,750 ten-to-thirteen-hour base rate. Sixty minutes overlap the evening window. The planning add-on is KRW 65,750 × 20% × 60 ÷ 600 = KRW 1,315, producing an estimated benefit cost of KRW 67,065 for the day. Actual provider records and NHIS claim rounding control the final amount.
Monthly-cap increases require specific service patterns
The calculator does not grant a cap increase merely because many visits were entered. It counts only actual visits lasting at least eight hours and checks the selected grade and unit type. If the selected condition is not met, the increase is set to zero and a warning is shown.
2026 monthly home-care cap expansion conditions for Korean day and night care| Service pattern | Grade and qualifying days | Potential cap increase |
|---|
| Standard day/night care | Grades 1–2, 15+ days of 8+ hours | 10% |
| Standard day/night care | Grades 3–5, 15+ days of 8+ hours | 20% |
| Dementia-dedicated unit | Grades 1–5, 15+ days of 8+ hours | 50% |
| Dementia-dedicated unit | Cognitive-support grade, 9+ days of 8+ hours | 30% |
Standard day-care expansion is not applied when home visits by a family-member care worker are used in the same month. A center's marketing name does not prove that it is a registered dementia-dedicated unit. Ask the center and NHIS to confirm the registered service type and whether the expanded cap appears in the beneficiary's plan.
Worked example: grade 3, twenty eight-hour visits
Assume a grade 3 beneficiary attends from 09:00 to 17:00 on twenty days and uses KRW 300,000 of other cap-counted home-care benefits in the same month. The grade 3 eight-to-under-ten-hour rate is KRW 59,640, so day/night-care benefit cost is KRW 1,192,800. If the standard-day-care expansion is genuinely eligible, the grade 3 base cap of KRW 1,528,200 increases by 20% to KRW 1,833,840.
Worked monthly grade 3 Korean day and night care cost example| Component | Planning value | Calculation |
|---|
| Day/night-care benefit cost | KRW 1,192,800 | KRW 59,640 × 20 days |
| Other home-care benefit cost | KRW 300,000 | Cap-counted total |
| Combined benefit cost | KRW 1,492,800 | Below expanded cap |
| Standard 15% copay | KRW 223,920 | KRW 1,492,800 × 15% |
| NHIS payment | KRW 1,268,880 | Within-cap total less copay |
If an illustrative center charges KRW 4,000 per meal, KRW 1,000 per snack, provides one of each on every visit, and lists KRW 20,000 of other monthly non-covered cost, the non-covered total is KRW 120,000. The estimated household cost becomes KRW 223,920 + KRW 120,000 = KRW 343,920. These are deliberately labeled illustrative inputs, not market averages or official center prices.
Compare center quotes on the same schedule
Enter confirmed contract amounts
- Meal-ingredient price per serving and the expected number of servings.
- Snack price per serving if the center lists it separately.
- Grooming or another specifically identified monthly non-covered charge.
- Actual holiday operating days and recorded arrival/departure times.
Do not invent or duplicate charges
- Standard transport service is billed separately to NHIS under the notice and is not an ordinary beneficiary charge.
- The mobility-bathing-service add-on is also paid by NHIS when the notice conditions are met.
- Do not paste only a center's headline monthly total; request the covered copay and non-covered items separately.
- Apply a municipal subsidy or provider discount only after receiving an eligibility decision or written quote.
The calculator marks the lowest entered estimate with a star only as a price comparison. It does not rank service quality, transport convenience, staffing, dementia-care suitability, medical needs, or contract risk. A more expensive quote may still be the appropriate choice for the beneficiary's care needs.
Use the missed-day option cautiously
A missed contracted visit does not automatically create a 50% fee. The notice requires conditions such as a contract covering at least fifteen days, notice to NHIS by the end of the prior month, and an eligible weekday that is not a public holiday or Saturday. No more than five such days may be counted in a month. The per-day amount is 50% of the scheduled time-band rate but cannot exceed 50% of the grade's eight-to-under-ten-hour rate.
The checkbox records the user's confirmation; it does not verify the center's contract or prior NHIS filing. Before adding a missed-day amount, ask the center for the contracted schedule, the notified plan, the affected dates, and the claim basis.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 15% copay apply to meals?
No. Meal ingredients and other confirmed non-covered items are outside NHIS payment and copay reductions, so the beneficiary pays the quoted amount in full.
Does a 0% exemption make the entire month free?
No. It can remove the within-cap covered copay, but above-cap benefit cost and non-covered center charges remain full household payment.
Should I enter the center vehicle charge as non-covered?
Standard transport service under the national notice is separately billed to NHIS and is not normally charged to the beneficiary. If a center lists another charge, request its exact name and basis before entering it.
Are the 20% evening and 30% holiday add-ons stacked?
No. When the same visit is both on a public holiday and overlaps the evening window, this estimate applies the holiday add-on and does not stack the evening add-on.
Is the cap increase automatic after fifteen visits?
No. The visits must each last at least eight hours, the grade and registered unit type must match, and standard-day-care expansion can be blocked by family-caregiver home visits in the same month.
Are additional eight-hour days guaranteed?
No. This is the remaining cap divided by the base eight-hour rate. Evening or holiday add-ons, missed-day claims, and further home-care benefits can reduce the actual number.
Official sources and a practical next step
Core rate and cap rules come from the National Law Information Center's current version of the Ministry of Health and Welfare Notice on long-term-care benefit provision standards and benefit-cost calculation, Ministry Notice No. 2025-247, effective January 1, 2026. The Korean Long-Term Care Insurance Act, Enforcement Decree, and Enforcement Rule provide the day/night-care definition, home-care copay, cap excess, and non-covered framework. NHIS guidance confirms the 15% home-care copay, 40% or 60% reductions, exemption framework, and full payment for cap excess and non-covered items.
Print or save the result and ask the center to verify recorded service hours, public-holiday operation, meal and snack counts, other non-covered charges, and any missed-day basis. Ask NHIS to verify the beneficiary's copay category, other cap-counted services, registered unit type, and monthly-cap expansion. The current notice, benefit plan, and final claim always override this estimate.
Compare up to three centers before signing
Confirm the grade, copay category, and other home-care benefit total with NHIS. Then enter each center's actual meal, snack, and other non-covered quote against the same monthly schedule. Use the result as a structured consultation sheet—not as a provider recommendation or a guaranteed invoice.