A civic group strongly criticized the government and its party, after an amendment to the National Health Insurance Act failed to pass the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee’s subcommittee due to partisan disagreement Thursday.
The amendment bill contained the expansion of state funding for national health insurance while abolishing a sunset clause.
The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) have lodged a strong opposition to the permanent state aid to the national health insurance, and the Ministry of Finance and Economy calls for extending the financial support only by one year and turning the aid into a health insurance fund to strengthen its control,” the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD) said.
Considering the low coverage and increasing medical spending due to rapid population aging, the governmental responsibility of health insurance should be strengthened. However, the plan of the government and the ruling party to reduce state subsidies for health insurance is like “throwing away the public’s right to health."
PSPD pointed out that the government is not properly fulfilling the state’s support obligations stipulated in the law. For example, under the National Health Insurance Act and the National Health Promotion Act, the government should provide 20 percent of the estimated premium income of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).
“The government has not implemented the state aid stipulated in the law even once, and such unpaid amount since 2007 has accumulated to 27 trillion won,” it said. “In the Netherlands and France, the share of state subsidy exceeds 50 percent, and the corresponding ratio of Japan also approaches 40 percent. The Taiwanese government also shoulders more than 26 percent of the money.”
The civic group noted that Korea’s state subsidy level is meager compared with these countries. Still, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is trying to curtail this further, abandoning the state responsibility for health insurance.
“The Yoon administration is the first government since the Kim Dae-jung administration that attempts to reduce insurance coverage without presenting a plan to increase it under the pretext of improving spending efficiency,” the group said. “Financial stability may be important, but the incumbent government is neutralizing the purpose of health insurance under the pretext of fiscal stability.”
It then called for the government and governing party to cast away immediately their anachronistic attempts, including curtailing state subsidies for health insurance and reducing medical welfare under a belt-tightening policy.
Less than a month is left before the expiry of the sunset clause. Therefore, the government and its party must actively cooperate to expand state subsidy to health insurance and legislate a permanent law to that end,” it said.
Another civic movement group also issued a statement, making similar demands.
“What is the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), which vowed to focus on improving public livelihood, doing now?” said the Movement Headquarters for Preventing Medical Privatization and Realizing Free Medical Care. “Only nine PPP lawmakers are swaying the DPK legislators at the Assembly’s Health-Welfare Committee. How can we call DPK a party of public livelihood if it even fails to abolish the sunset clause for the state subsidy to health insurance?”
The group also called for the parliamentary committee to do away with the sunset clause and drastically lift the subsidy to levels of countries with similar economic power to Korea’s.
Don’t pass the burden to patients and people,” it blasted.