koreaherald.com (11.04.2020) Foreign subscribers of South Korea’s national health insurance are eligible for premium assistance in a COVID-19 bailout, the state health care service said Saturday. From July 16, 2019, foreign residents staying over six months are required to enroll in the national health insurance plan. Previously, the subscription was optional for those staying longer than three months. As of last year, the number of foreign subscribers to the national health insurance plan reached 1,212,475.

koreaherald.com (11.03.2020) The National Health Insurance Service said the lower 20 percent of the income bracket will receive about 30 to 50 percent reduction in premiums from March through May. For the worst-affected Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province’s Gyeongsan, Cheongdo and Bonghwa, the bottom half of income earners will be given the partial premium waivers. The lowered payments are a part of Korea’s disaster relief subsidy plan announced March 30 to cushion financial blow from the outbreak for the financially vulnerable.

Reuters (14.09.2020) A collective failure by political leaders to heed warnings and prepare for an infectious disease pandemic has transformed “a world at risk” to a “world in disorder”, according to a report on international epidemic preparedness.

IPE (15.07.2020) Despite heavy opposition resistance against “breaking down the world’s best pensions system”, the Dutch parliament agreed yesterday to the switch to a new defined contribution (DC) contract which includes a lifecycle system and personal pension pots. However, many questions on implementation remain.

capital.fr (07.09.2020) Le coût des tests généralisés du COVID 19 est très important et la Sécurité sociale est directement impactée.

Project Syndicate (19.08.2020) COVID-19 has decimated livelihoods worldwide, squeezing the middle class and pushing low-income households into abject poverty. Social-protection programs such as Pakistan's Ehsaas Emergency Cash offer not only a path forward during the pandemic, but also valuable lessons for the future.

brookings.edu (19.08.2020) The financial response to the Covid crisis demonstrated the inability of the federal government to rapidly get money to people during times of crisis. It took between three weeks and three months for Americans to receive a single penny of their emergency impact payments, aka the Covid stimulus.

 Korea Biomedical Review (19.06.2020) The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said it would team up with the World Bank to create online content for learning Korea’s experience of running the national health insurance system. At the request of the World Bank, the NIHS has signed a memorandum of understanding with the bank to make the online learning contents about the excellence of the nation’s healthcare coverage and the NIHS’ operation experience, the NIHS said.

World Economic Forum (20.08.2020) Germany is about to become the latest country to trial a universal basic income, starting a three-year study of how it affects the economy and recipients' well-being. As part of the study, 120 people will receive €1,200, or about $1,430, each month for three years — an amount just above Germany's poverty line — and researchers will compare their experiences with another group of 1,380 people who will not receive the payments.

worldbank.org (10.08,2020) For all its devastation, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has nonetheless exposed pre-existing health system weaknesses.  It has also given a further boost to the role digital technologies can play in bridging the gaps in care for a range of health needs, including detection and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).