Overhaul of Non-Reimbursable and Indemnity Insurance Initiated
Re-establishment of Hospital Roles Focusing on Severe Treatments
Announcement of Measures to Prevent Concentration in Metropolitan Hospitals,
Ministry of Health and Welfare Sejong Government Complex. Photo=Yonhap News,
, ‘On November 14, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that in December, it will disclose the second phase of medical reform execution plans centered on reforming non-reimbursable and indemnity insurance. The plans include support measures to enhance the severe and emergency treatment capabilities of general hospital-level secondary hospitals in medically underserved areas, focusing on severe treatment reformation in top-tier general hospitals.’,
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, “Lee Ki-il, the first vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, revealed this during a briefing on ‘Key Achievements and Future Plans in the Health and Welfare Sector of the Yoon Suk Yeol Administration’ held at the Government Complex Seoul on the same day. In August, the Ministry prepared the first phase of medical reform execution plans focused on raising rates for over 900 severe surgeries, announcing a plan to invest more than 10 trillion won in strengthening regional essential medical services over five years.”,
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, ‘In the second execution plan scheduled for December, the Ministry plans to announce a structural reform plan for non-reimbursable and indemnity insurance to prevent unnecessary waste of medical resources, and measures to establish a safety net for medical accidents, enabling essential medical practitioners to provide optimal care without legal risks.’,
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, ‘Additionally, support such as fee increases will be provided to make secondary general hospitals capable of preventing the concentration in large metropolitan hospitals. At the same time, a plan to develop secondary hospitals to strengthen their functions in severe, emergency, cardiovascular, high-risk childbirth, pediatric, and trauma care will be formulated.’,
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, “Despite recent demands from the medical community to ‘temporarily halt medical reform’ as a condition for dialogue, the government is accelerating reform by setting up specific plans sequentially.”,
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, ‘Following the increase in rates for over 900 procedures this year, there are plans to normalize reimbursement rates for over 3,000 essential medical low-compensation procedures to 100% cost compensation rate by 2027. Remote medical consultations, practically permitted in a pilot form, have been expanding, with 1.15 million patients utilizing the service from June last year to July this year.’,
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, ‘In the pilot project for restructuring top-tier general hospitals to focus on severe, emergency, and rare diseases, 31 out of 47 have participated as of today, with nine more applying, resulting in 85% participation. It is expected that virtually all top-tier general hospitals will participate by the end of the year.’,
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, ‘The government expressed its intention to engage in open discussions without providing specific responses to the demands from the medical community proposed through the parliamentary consultation body on this day.’,
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, “Medical associations, including the Korean Medical Association, have demanded reduced recruitment for the 2025 medical school year through ‘limiting additional admissions during regular admissions’ and a temporary halt to the activities of the government’s medical reform special committee, which does not include associations like the doctors’ union, and suspension of the top-tier general hospital restructuring project. The Korean Medical Association, recently reorganized into an emergency response committee system, is also demanding the same.”,
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, ‘At the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the doctors’ collective action held the same day, Jeong Yoon-soon, the head of the Health and Medical Policy Office at the Ministry, stated, “We will genuinely review various measures.”‘,
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