Gov't “will reinvestigate overused reimbursed items”

to reinforce the provision of essential healthcare

Fiscal reform of the National Health Insurance to start… Ki-il Lee, second vice minister of MOHW appointed head of the Promotion Team

The government will begin discussions on fiscal reform of the National Health Insurance areviewreivew the overused healthcare items ng on already-listed reimbursed items to expand essential healthcare and ensure the sustainability of NHI finances.

 

On the 23rd, the Ministry of Health and Welfare launched and held the first meeting of the NHI Fiscal Reform Promotion Team that was established to strengthen essential healthcare and create a sustainable health insurance system.

 

Relevant institutions, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, National Health Insurance Service, and Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service will jointly participate in the Promotion Team to discover and promote projects for NHI fiscal reform.

 

The NHI system has been improving access to medical care for the public, achieving a universal health insurance system in a short period of time since its implementation in 1977.

 

As a result, Korea was able to achieve high levels of health outcomes in key indicators such as life expectancy and cancer mortality, etc.

 

while spending less on medical expenses compared to the average spent by other OECD countries.

 

However, in the process of reimbursing non-reimbursed items and reducing the burden borne by patients, an unexpected side effect where usage of some items have surged to a greater extent than expected arose.

 

The government plans to operate the Promotion Team to review whether reimbursed items are being used in excess and prepare a measure for its management.

 

In addition, the government plans to reinforce essential healthcare services that are necessary for the public by preparing a measure for the structural reform of medical expenditures and inducing reasonable and appropriate use of healthcare by examining whether any financial leaks in NHI fiances arose from ▲excessive medical use ▲the increase in the amount of non-reimbursed and reimbursed healthcare usage and their relationship with indemnity insurance ▲theft of health insurance qualifications ▲inappropriate use of the foreign dependent system, etc.

 

For this, the Promotion Team plans to intensively discuss and announce plans to restore essential healthcare until October and prepare detailed implementation plans for each task.

 

Ki-il Lee, second vice minister of MOHW said, “The Promotion Team will work to reinforce the management of reimbursed items and excessive medical use while maintaining the health insurance benefits received by the public.

 

We will do our best to ensure a trusted and sustainable NHI system that covers essential areas of healthcare such as emergency, high-risk operations, childbirth, etc.”