South Korea's national health insurance service suffered its first annual deficit in seven years in 2018.<br />According to the latest data released by the agency, it enjoyed an annual surplus from 2011 to 2017.<br />But last year, the service recorded a deficit of roughly one-hundred-sixty million U.S. dollars.<br />The expanded insurance coverage caused the abrupt fall in the agency's budget.<br />From July last year, state health insurance started covering ultrasound tests on the liver and gallbladder,... and magnetic resonance imaging on brain and cerebrovascular diseases.<br />Starting this year, the insurance will also cover the treatment of rare diseases. <br />
