Health minister reaffirms need for state insurance reforms
來源：開云體育app官方網站發布日期：2023-01-26 18:12:58 瀏覽：97
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| Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong speaks during a press conference held in Government Complex Sejong, Monday. Newsis |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong reaffirmed the need to reform the national health insurance program in order to enhance its financial sustainability and better provide medical services to people in need.
"During the last five years, the expansion of health insurance coverage has led to a tremendous increase in medical expenses (of the state insurance program) in a short period of time. We have seen a ten-fold increase in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnosis expenses," he said during a press conference, Monday, the first such event since he took office on Oct. 5.
His remarks came days after the ministry's announcement on a set of reform measures, intending to overhaul much of the health insurance policies adopted by the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
The Moon administration had strengthened the state healthcare coverage, seeking to expand coverage for a wider range of medical treatments including costly ultrasounds, MRIs as well as emergency care in general hospitals.
These measures, however, have come under scrutiny by the incumbent administration for deteriorating the financial sustainability of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) due to accusations of overuse of medical services. Against this backdrop, the health ministry is pushing to "normalize" the insurance scheme by applying stricter standards to certain treatments such as MRI and ultrasound scans.
When asked about concerns that the reform plans may lead to reduced insurance benefits for those in need, he replied, "Our aim is to enhance the sustainability of the insurance policies. And the saved expenditures will be spent on improving essential medical services, urgent care as well as treatment of rare and incurable diseases."
Cho also noted that more detailed measures to improve the transparency of the insurance program will be announced next year.
Meanwhile, Cho viewed that his ministry would be capable of carrying out gender equality-related policies once the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is abolished. Earlier in October, the government announced its plan to shut down the gender equality ministry and create a department under the health ministry in charge of gender equality affairs.
"As you know, our ministry ― with a budget of 100 trillion won ― operates a wide range of welfare policies including support measures of social minorities such as children, people with disabilities and the elderly. I believe we will be able to carry out gender- and family-related policies as well," he said.
In response to questions about the government's plans to remove the indoor mask requirement, Cho said the ministry will announce on Friday detailed measures on when and how the rule will be relaxed.
The indoor mask requirement is one of the last remaining COVID-19 restrictions in Korea after the outdoor mask rule was scrapped in September. While it is highly anticipated that the mandate will be partially lifted in low-risk facilities before the Lunar New Year holiday which starts on Jan. 22, the minister was cautious about giving an exact date, saying, "Considering the uncertainties in the virus situation, it is difficult to set an exact timeline."
Moreover, the health minister added that plans to lift the mandatory seven-day self-isolation rule for virus carriers will be actively reviewed once the pandemic situation is stabilized after the ongoing cold weather conditions this winter.
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