South Korea's medical care aid for people in the low-income bracket rose nearly 10 percent in 2019 to surpass the 8 trillion won mark for the first time, data showed Wednesday.

Low-incomers' medical costs covered by the country's national health insurance came to 8.4 trillion won ($7.43 billion) last year, up 9.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the National Health Insurance Service.

State medical aid for low-income households had been on a steady rise since reaching 5.9 trillion won in 2015. The amount rose to 6.6 trillion won in 2016, 6.9 trillion won in 2017 and 7.6 trillion won in 2018.

The average medical cost per patient came to 5.6 million won last year, up 10.3 percent from the previous year.

Of last year's total medical assistance, about 4.1 trillion won was provided to patients aged 65 and older in 2019, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier.

A total of 1.49 million people in the low-income bracket benefited from state medical assistance last year, up 0.3 percent from the previous year, according to the data. (Yonhap)