Ministry unveils 101 welfare goals

The government on Monday unveiled 101 welfare goals aimed at improving people’s daily life in more specific ways.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has selected the 101 policy items that will be implemented within the year without additional budgeting or legal revisions. “Even though the economy is getting better since last year, the recovery has not yet been reflected in people’s lives, especially for the underprivileged,” Minister Chin Soo-hee said during a news briefing on Monday.

“While pushing major welfare policies as planned, the ministry will implement the new measures that would bring small but meaningful progress to more people’s lives.”

From December, the service quality of all 25,000 childcare facilities nationwide will be revealed online. Currently, the ministry does so only for high-performing facilities.

In September, the ministry introduces a smartphone app whose users can search for neighboring daycare centers that are certified by the government.

In order to relieve the financial burden of patients who have to use a VIP room due to a lack of sickbeds, general hospitals will be required to secure more than 70 percent of their new sickbeds for ordinary patients.

Senior citizens will be able to apply for their pension benefits one month before they reach the recipient age of 65. The measure will solve the one-month policy vacuum that currently takes place during the administrative process.

The ministry will make it easier for people with severe disabilities to get a driver’s license. Adding to the existing two special driving areas nationwide, the ministry will rent private practice areas to improve accessibility.

The ministry will offer a text-message service to notice the government’s rice delivery for people living below the poverty line. As the delivery has been conducted without notice for some recipients could not benefit from the program.

The ministry will also build up the national database of 17,000 people with Rh negative blood so that the rare blood can be provided promptly in an urgent situation.

Chin plans to visit all the places where the 101 policy items are implemented in the coming 101 days, she said.

“We will conduct a quarterly evaluation on each item and the result will be shared with the public through the ministry’s website,” she added.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)