What this dementia medication support calculator does
This calculator is a South Korea household budget tool for a person who already has a dementia diagnosis and a prescribed dementia medicine.
It separates the patient-paid covered cost of an eligible medicine and the covered consultation on the prescription date from tests, non-covered care, another visit, transport, parking, and caregiver time.
When the responsible dementia center has confirmed eligibility and the application start month, the calculator applies the entered monthly and calendar-year limits as actual support.
When confirmation is still pending, the same amount appears only as potential support and is not deducted from the household budget.
A budget planner, not a clinical or eligibility decision
The tool does not diagnose dementia, select a medicine, interpret a diagnosis code, recommend starting or stopping treatment, or decide public-support eligibility.
A dementia center and the National Health Insurance Service must confirm the prescription, covered patient share, income or property rule, duplicate-support rule, payment process, and payable amount.
Do not enter a resident registration number, patient name, hospital name, prescription image, exact household income, or medical-record details.
2026 national reference: actual cost up to KRW 30,000 a month
The 2026 dementia-policy guide summarized by the official Easy Law service describes support for the covered patient share of an eligible dementia medicine and the covered consultation charge on the day that medicine is prescribed.
The national reference is reimbursement of actual eligible cost up to KRW 30,000 per month and KRW 360,000 per calendar year, rather than a fixed KRW 30,000 payment every month.
If the eligible patient share is KRW 18,000 in one month, the support reference is at most KRW 18,000.
If it is KRW 45,000, the national monthly reference limits that month to KRW 30,000 before the yearly cap and local rules are checked.
2026 dementia treatment management support inclusions, exclusions, and reference limits| Cost item | Planner treatment | National reference |
|---|
| Covered patient share for an eligible prescribed dementia medicine | Potential eligible base | Combined monthly limit applies |
| Covered consultation patient share on the prescription date | Potential eligible base | KRW 30,000 per month |
| Tests, non-covered care, full patient payment, or another visit date | Kept outside public support | KRW 360,000 per year |
| Transport, parking, caregiver time, or replacement care | Added as household cost | No automatic deduction |
Local governments may use a different income threshold, add a local budget, suspend intake, or operate without an income limit.
The calculator therefore provides editable monthly and annual limits and never changes an unconfirmed case into an approved case.
Six facts to verify before deducting support
The Dementia Management Act authorizes national and local governments to support diagnosis and treatment cost according to economic circumstances, while its Enforcement Decree places application and detailed administration with the public-health-center process.
That legal authority does not make every prescription automatically payable.
Use the verification checklist as a call sheet for the dementia center, not as a self-certification form.
Diagnosis and prescription
Confirm that the diagnosis and the prescribed ingredient or product fall within the current program rules
Age or early-onset route
Confirm age 60 or older, or a center-approved early-onset exception when applicable
Income and property rule
Confirm the local threshold, a local no-income-limit rule, or non-eligibility
Application and start month
Confirm that registration is complete and record the first payable month
Monthly and yearly limit
Copy the limits stated by the responsible center instead of assuming the national reference
Duplicate support and payment
Ask about overlapping benefits, NHIS payment timing, bank details, and required receipts
Why the income field is a status, not an income calculator
The national 2026 guide recommends a threshold around 140 percent of median income, but municipal pages can publish another threshold such as 120 percent or a locally expanded rule.
Household composition, insurance-premium evidence, property review, exceptions, and budget availability require administrative confirmation.
This page asks only whether the local authority confirmed the result and does not collect the household amount used in that review.
How the calculation works
Start with the actual monthly patient-paid covered medicine amount and the covered consultation amount on the prescription date.
Their sum is the eligible-cost candidate.
The calculator limits that candidate by the entered monthly cap and by the remaining annual cap for each calendar year.
A plan crossing January receives a fresh yearly limit because the national reference is a calendar-year cap.
Public support for month m
Potential support = minimum of eligible patient cost, monthly limit, and the remaining limit in that calendar year.
Actual support = potential support only when support status is confirmed and the month is on or after the confirmed start month.
Household burden
Medical cost = eligible patient cost + other medical cost.
Net medical cost = medical cost − actual public support − confirmed insurance payment.
Net household cost = net medical cost + transport + caregiver or replacement-care cost.
A confirmed private-insurance payment is capped at the remaining medical cost so the result cannot create a negative medical bill.
Public support is never applied to transport or caregiver time, and the tool does not assume that an insurer covers any item.
Worked 12-month household example
Consider a fictional household with KRW 18,000 of eligible medicine patient share, KRW 8,000 of eligible prescription-date consultation, KRW 20,000 of other medical cost, KRW 15,000 of transport, and KRW 30,000 of caregiver time each month.
The eligible base is KRW 26,000, below the national monthly reference.
With confirmed support from January, a KRW 30,000 monthly limit, and a KRW 360,000 yearly limit, the 12-month support is KRW 312,000.
The annual household cost before support is KRW 1,092,000 and the cost after support is KRW 780,000 when no private-insurance payment is entered.
Fictional 12-month dementia medication support calculation example| Example item | Monthly amount | 12-month amount |
|---|
| Eligible medicine and consultation | KRW 26,000 | KRW 312,000 |
| Other medical, transport, and caregiver cost | KRW 65,000 | KRW 780,000 |
| Household cost before support | KRW 91,000 | KRW 1,092,000 |
| Confirmed public support | KRW 26,000 | KRW 312,000 |
| Household cost after support | KRW 65,000 | KRW 780,000 |
This example demonstrates the arithmetic only.
It is not a standard medicine price, a promised benefit, or an estimate of what another household will receive.
Step-by-step use
- Choose the confirmation status. Select confirmed only after the responsible dementia center has approved the applicable plan.
- Record the application month and duration. Use the first month that the center says can be paid, then enter the number of treatment months to budget.
- Enter eligible patient amounts. Copy the covered patient share for the eligible medicine and the prescription-date covered consultation from the statement or receipt.
- Keep excluded costs separate. Put tests, non-covered items, another visit, transport, parking, caregiver time, and replacement care in their own fields.
- Copy the confirmed caps. Keep KRW 30,000 and KRW 360,000 only when the center says the national references apply to the case.
- Review warnings and yearly rows. Resolve unconfirmed checks before treating a potential amount as spendable support.
Planning scenarios where the separation matters
A family preparing a monthly care budget
The medicine receipt may look small while repeated transport, parking, companion time, and replacement care dominate the annual budget.
Keeping those costs visible prevents a support cap from being mistaken for complete coverage of dementia care.
An application beginning partway through the year
Select the confirmed start month so earlier months remain outside actual support.
Ask the center whether any retroactive payment is allowed before changing that month because the calculator does not invent retroactive eligibility.
A plan crossing December and January
The yearly table shows the cap separately for each calendar year.
This is useful when a long plan would otherwise be incorrectly limited by one KRW 360,000 cap across two years.
A municipality with a different rule
Change the cap only to the figure confirmed by the responsible local office and record the income-status outcome without entering sensitive income data.
Preserve the confirmation note with the household budget for later rechecking.
Documents and questions for the dementia center
Document lists can differ by municipality and payment route, so use the following as a preparation list and confirm the current local form before visiting.
Do not upload these documents to this calculator.
Common preparation items
- Application form and applicant identification requested by the center
- Prescription or treatment evidence showing the current dementia medicine
- Account or payment information required for the applicable route
- Income, health-insurance, or medical-aid evidence requested locally
- Proxy or family-relationship evidence when another person applies
Questions worth recording
- Which medicine and consultation amounts are eligible on this receipt
- Which month is the first payable month and whether reapplication is needed
- Which monthly and annual caps apply in this municipality
- Whether another public benefit creates a duplicate-support restriction
- How NHIS payment timing and rejected claims can be checked
Frequently asked questions
Does every approved person receive KRW 30,000 each month?
No. The national reference reimburses actual eligible patient cost up to the monthly and yearly limits. A lower eligible cost produces a lower amount.
Are dementia tests and MRI charges included?
Do not include them automatically. The national treatment-management support base described here focuses on eligible medicine and the covered consultation on its prescription date. Ask the center about a separate diagnostic-support program.
Can a person younger than 60 apply?
Some official local guidance allows a center-reviewed early-onset exception, but the center must confirm the route and documents. The calculator cannot approve the exception.
Why is unconfirmed potential support not subtracted?
A national reference is not cash available to the household until individual eligibility, start month, eligible receipt items, caps, and payment conditions are confirmed.
Does the yearly limit reset after twelve months?
The reference is based on a calendar year, so a plan crossing January is split by year. Confirm the actual local administration for the application.
Can private insurance and public support both be entered?
Enter only a private-insurance amount confirmed for the same plan and ask both payers about duplicate payment. The calculator merely caps the combined deductions at remaining medical cost.
Does this calculator recommend donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine, or memantine?
No. Official local pages may list recognized ingredients as administrative examples, but medicine choice, dose, benefit, and safety belong to the treating clinician and current program review.
Where should an application begin?
Contact the dementia center in the local public health center that administers the case. Ask for the current application form, local income rule, eligible medicine check, start month, and payment procedure.
Tips, cautions, and official sources
Make the budget auditable
- Keep a month-by-month receipt total instead of a guessed average
- Record the date and office that confirmed each eligibility item
- Recheck a cap or income rule when the calendar year changes
- Keep public support, private insurance, and tax treatment separate
Do not delay medical help for a budget result
New confusion, sudden weakness, speech difficulty, severe headache, loss of consciousness, or another acute change can require urgent assessment.
Use Korean emergency services at 119 or contact a medical professional rather than relying on this calculator.
Basis checked on August 25, 2026
- Dementia Management Act ID 011442, MST 257869, including Articles 2, 12, and 17
- Enforcement Decree of the Dementia Management Act ID 011538, MST 255029, including Article 10
- Ministry of Health and Welfare 2026 Dementia Policy Program Guide, publication registration 11-1352000-100526-10
- Official Easy Law summary of the 2026 treatment-management support scope, limits, and recommended income reference
- Current municipal dementia-center pages used to verify that local thresholds and procedures can differ
Laws and program pages can change after the verification date.
Confirm the current rule with the responsible dementia center before making a payment or care decision.
Turn confirmed receipt amounts into a care budget
Enter the covered medicine and prescription-date consultation separately from tests, travel, and caregiver cost.
Deduct public support only after the local dementia center confirms eligibility, limits, and the start month.