SEOUL – South Korea is weighing whether to extend national health insurance coverage to common hair-loss treatments, a proposal that has sparked growing backlash from doctors and patient advocacy groups.

The debate centres on whether male-pattern hair loss, a common form of androgenetic alopecia, should be covered by the country’s public health insurance system, which is designed to prioritise medically necessary treatment.

Health and Welfare Minister Jung Eun-kyeong recently named expanded insurance coverage for hair-loss treatment as one of the government’s policy priorities for the second half of 2026. The Health Ministry is considering initially extending coverage to younger adults, citing concerns that hair loss can have significant social and psychological consequences for people entering the job market.

The discussion gained momentum after Lee Jae Myung said in 2025 that hair loss, once viewed primarily as a cosmetic issue, is now “a matter of survival”, affecting quality of life and social opportunities.

The proposal, however, has drawn criticism from medical experts who argue that public health insurance should focus on serious illnesses and treatments with clear medical necessity.

“Public insurance coverage is justified by medical need, not by whether people feel they deserve to get back what they paid into the system,” Chung Jae-hoon, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University College of Medicine, wrote on social media.

“Male-pattern hair loss caused by ageing and genetics is not a disease that threatens life or bodily function,” he said. “If hair-loss treatment is covered, people will inevitably ask why treatments for poor eyesight, wrinkles or age spots are not.”

Chung also argued that many treatments with stronger evidence of cos...