Opposition lawmakers pointed out during the National Assembly’s deliberations on next year’s budget that the government is spending too much health insurance funds to address the medical service gap sparked by its policy of expanding medical students.
The government has announced that it will invest more than 30 trillion won ($21.6 billion) over the next five years to expand the medical workforce, strengthen regional medical care, build a safety net for medical accidents, and improve the fairness of the compensation system, which it presented as the four major tasks of healthcare reform.
Of this, only 10 trillion won will come from the national treasury.
“President Yoon Suk Yeol said in his statement to the nation that he would promote healthcare reform calmly and meticulously. However, what’s happening now? The ridiculous plan to increase medical students by 2,000 for 2025 has resulted in a decrease in the number of doctors next year,” Rep. Kang Sun-woo of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Thursday at a plenary meeting of the Health and Welfare Committee to review the 2025 budget.
“Yoon said the government would promote (healthcare reform) calmly and meticulously so that the people wouldn’t worry. However, I can only think of how shameless they are,” Rep. Kang said. “Is there a budget for this (healthcare reform) so people don’t worry? For the government, health insurance funds are like coffee vending machines. They take out a coffee can whenever they need it. However, how much financial need is being met with fiscal spending?”
Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong replied that the government plans to win 10 trillion over five years.
However, Kang said, “This is a matter of conscience. If you are going to spend this much, you should either say that an increase in health insurance premiums is inevitable and be criticized, or at least observe the statutory standards for health insurance funding.”
In this regard, Nam In-soon, another DPK lawmaker, urged the government to include in the budget the amount of government funding for health insurance that aligns with the legal standard. Rep. Nam said that 1.6 trillion won should be increased to meet the legal standard.
According to the National Health Insurance Act and the National Health Promotion Act, the government must fund a certain percentage of health insurance through the national treasury and tobacco tax. It must provide 20 percent of the expected revenue from health insurance premiums for the year, with 14 percent coming from the national treasury and 6 percent from the Health Promotion Fund.
However, the government has never met this standard.
Moreover, in the “Nine Questions and Nine Answers on the 2025 Budget,” released on Sept. 24, the Ministry of Economy and Finance drew a line for budgeting 1.6 trillion won less than the legal standard for next year’s health insurance subsidy.
“In principle, health insurance should be funded by premium income,” the ministry said. “The government has been comprehensively considering the legal regulations, the country’s financial situation, and the health insurance financial balance to determine the amount of government support.”
Nam said, “The government is using health insurance funds for the medical crisis. The government has already spent more than 1 trillion won this year, claiming to provide emergency medical care. It is likely to spend even more next year, but how does it make sense that it is not taking responsibility for the country’s finances while spending the insurance premiums paid by the people?”
“The government shouldn’t support the same level as the previous year. The state’s responsibility should be more than 14 out of 100, but it is not. Next year’s support budget should be increased by 1.63 trillion won,” Nam said. “I hope the health ministry will actively negotiate with the finance ministry to make it happen.”
