Smoking cost calculated

The costs of health insurance for the treatment of smoking-related and alcohol-related ailments totaled KRW13 trillion ($11 billion) in South Korea for the 2016–2018 period, according to a recent report by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

The costs used to treat smoking and alcohol maladies accounted for 8 percent of the KRW58.7 trillion that the NHIS spent on the entire country in 2018.

By age bracket, the report noted that health insurance payments provided to those in their 60s for smoking-related illnesses grew by over 11 percent from 2016 to 2018 to 5.76 million people receiving support.