The government has released a draft of the “Special Act on Handling of Medical Accidents" to appease the medical community, which has been protesting against the increase in medical school students.

However, it remains to be seen whether the proposed law will be enacted, as the timeline for its implementation and related budget have not been detailed.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled the draft of the act during a regular briefing by the task force to deal with doctors’ collective action in protest to the government’s policy to increase medical school enrollment quota.

According to the draft, even if a patient is injured due to medical malpractice during treatment, the prosecution cannot indict the physician if the patient does not want it, provided the physician is enrolled in liability insurance deductible. A liability insurance deductible is an insurance policy with a set compensation limit.

In the case of a comprehensive insurance deductible, a medical practitioner could not be prosecuted even if he or she injured a patient due to medical negligence in the course of medical treatment and essential medical treatment, such as medical treatment for emergency patients, serious illness, and childbirth, could not be prosecuted even if the patient was seriously injured. Comprehensive insurance deductible refers to insurance covering the full damages incurred.

In addition, if a patient dies while performing an essential medical procedure, the comprehensive insurance deductible can be used to reduce the sentence.

However, this special exception applies only to those who participate in the mediation and arbitration process of the Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency. This process fairly resolves medical accident disputes.

In particular, the government said it would support the deductible premiums for liability insurance for doctors in essential healthcare fields and specialties.

The government said that the draft law can be improved through discussion and will hold a public hearing on Thursday to collect additional opinions.

The draft law released by the government was based on the contents of the “Essential Healthcare Policy Package” announced on Feb. 1. Announcing its contents, the ministry said that since enacting a law takes time, it would push for immediate improvements in investigation and handling procedures.

Therefore, specific plans and timelines for enacting the law are more important than the contents of the proposed act. Still, medical sources noted that the latest announcement did not include them.

In response, Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo said, "It can take considerable time because it needs to be legislated. That's why the government released the draft to disclose the government's thoughts," adding that the ministry would hear various opinions at public hearings.

Park noted that the draft law plans to support insurance premiums for deductible liability insurance for essential medical fields and specialty doctors but acknowledged that the budget for the program has yet to be known.

"We need to calculate how much money it will take to cover the damages incurred," Park said. "So, we must make a detailed study on the finances.”

In addition, a presidential special committee on healthcare reform to discuss the establishment of the (tentative) medical institution safety insurance agency, necessary for realizing the bill as mentioned in the essential healthcare policy package, has not yet been formed.

"It is the government's position to expedite the discussion through the special committee. Unfortunately, without the (medical community) collective action, we could have spent much more time on the policy proposal," Park said. "However, we are still trying to materialize it."