Lee government's public healthcare policy is no different from its predecessor’s: civic groups

The Lee Jae Myung administration has made expanding public healthcare a national policy priority; however, critics pointed out a lack of concrete measures to achieve this goal.

The Headquarters of the Movement to Stop Healthcare Privatization and Achieve Free Healthcare and the Headquarters of the Movement to Build Good Public Hospitals held a news briefing titled “Problems with the Lee Jae Myung Administration's Healthcare Policy Direction” at the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy on Thursday.

The two groups criticized the government's public healthcare policy, stating it is “substantially no different from that of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.”

Na Baek-ju, chief policymaker of the Headquarters of the Movement to Build Good Public Hospitals, questioned the sincerity and feasibility of expanding public healthcare.

“It was welcome that President Lee Jae Myung publicly pledged to expand public healthcare, proposing initiatives like a public healthcare academy, a regional doctor system, and new public hospitals in local areas. However, a detailed look at these national policy tasks reveals they ultimately resemble the previous administration's ‘strengthening essential healthcare’ framework,” Na said.

Na pointed to the lack of will to reform the “preliminary feasibility study” system, which has hindered the establishment of public hospitals, as the biggest problem. “Preliminary feasibility studies focus on economic viability, making it impossible for regions with small populations and a high ratio of older adults to pass. Since establishing public hospitals is a public welfare project where lives cannot be calculated in monetary terms, the criteria for these studies must be revised.”

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the establishment of public hospitals in Ulsan and Gwangju, which had entered the preliminary feasibility study phase to advance their projects, was rejected by the Yoon Suk Yeol administration on the grounds of “lack of competitiveness.”

Regarding the government's plans for expanding public hospitals, Na stated, “This national agenda contains absolutely no concrete plans regarding the number of beds, regions, or number of facilities to be built,” adding, “The lack of any mention of the pre-feasibility study issue, which was the biggest obstacle, makes us doubt the sincerity of these plans.”

He continued, “The increase in fees for procedures like cardiovascular interventions or obstetrics in pediatric and adolescent departments only boosted profits for private hospitals in large cities,” adding, “Regional hospitals, with their smaller populations, cannot feel the effects of the fee increases.”

It even caused the adverse effect of university hospital personnel leaving for private hospitals, which has actually widened the gap in essential medical care, Na pointed out.

The civic activist also highlighted issues with the supply of public healthcare personnel.

Expressing concern that current staffing quotas at public hospitals and health centers are lower than those at private hospitals, Na said, “The heavy burden of on-call duties for doctors and nurses has led to a serious avoidance phenomenon.”

He emphasized that institutional support is necessary, including expanding staffing quotas, implementing total contract systems to ensure workforce stability, and developing personnel and facility infrastructure.

“A relevant department must be created within the central government or the National Medical Center,” he said. “Strengthening the public healthcare system to resolve regional essential medical care is the most advantageous countermeasure.”

At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Lee Jae Myung finalized 123 national policy tasks. In the healthcare sector, key tasks included transitioning to a sustainable healthcare system, reducing regional disparities, expanding essential medical services, strengthening public healthcare, and alleviating the burden of national medical expenses by strengthening primary care.