• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.103-113
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• 2017

There have been many achievements for 40 years since the introduction of compulsory health insurance. Despite many achievements, it has many challenges in health insurance. Aging, non-communicable disease, and low growth economy are threatening the sustainability of health insurance, and it is time to reform the health insurance. A long-term reform plan will be an absolute necessity for reform of health insurance and health care system. Health insurance and health care reform should be an extremely revolutionary content that completely changes the framework. This reform should deal with the philosophy of health, approach of medical education and doctor training, changing supply of medical service, the innovation of primary medical care, reform of public health system, the management of medical utilization, the integration of medical cure and care services, enhancing the benefit coverage, prohibition of covered and non-covered services, etc. Therefore, it is urgent to form a consensus on the necessity of reform, to establish the health insurance plan on this consensus, and to make efforts to make health insurance sustainable.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.217-233
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• 1998

This paper analyzed four different perspectives on health care reform in Korea in terms of the basic values, formulated problems and reform plans, implementation methods, and supporting groups. The medical security plan was insisted by social security specialists and social activists focusing on the integration of medical insurance coops in order to enhancing equity and right of the people. However, its perspective was limited to promoting security instead of reforming health care system. The government proposed the health care reform plans in 1994 and in 1997, focusing on promoting efficiency by remedying many problems in health care delivery system. However, its implementation was not successful due to the lack of organizational and financial supporters. Recently, two opposite proposals were issued. The market reform plan paid attention to revitalizing the market function to promoting efficiency by allowing hospitals to treat private patients instead of applying the medical insurance regulation. The government reform plan focused on intensifying governmental planning and intervention in the health care sector in order to removing inefficiency and promoting equity with the supports of social activists and labor unions. Finally, this paper proposed an alternative plan to promote harmonious social relationship between actors in the health care system.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2008

In the shortest period of time, we achieved both industrialization and democratization. We also achieved good performance in health care sector. Whole population are covered by health insurance since 1989 and health outcomes, such as infant mortality, life expectance show good level. However, health care system has several problems, rapidly increasing rate of health care expenditure, dissatisfaction of both consumers and suppliers. Current health care system does not reconcile with market competition principle. Causes of these problems originated from 1977 paradigm which was formed to expand health insurance to whole population within short period. Dominant assumption of 1977 paradigm is to assure equitable access of health care by government's command and control. We urgently demand to reform the 1977 paradigm to suitable in 21th century. Our economy entered into a road to advancement. We have concerns how President Lee's administration reform health care system to harmonize with economic development and to achieve advancement in health care sector.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.106-128
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• 2007

The Korean health care system is under great controversy. Over the last 30 years, main goal of health policies was to pursue equal access of health care services. However, another goal of health policies laid on efficiency and Quality of care, it had lower priorities. Superficially, controversy stems from priority setting among goals of health care system, equity, efficiency and quality. At a deeper level, arguments arise from disagreement and confusion about the values of Korean health care system. One of the value spectrums believes that health care is the basic right of human beings, therefore it should be produced and distributed on need approach, and needs are known to be decided by professionals. If we accept need approach, health care is a pubic good. Another value of spectrums considers that health care should be distributed on demand approach. Demand approach means that health care is a consumption good on the positive economics, while normative judgement believes that health care is a public good. In equity aspect, health care is considered as a public good. Over the last several years, some of scholars proposed health care reform based on the principle of competition which is based on demand approach. Others argue that the competition principle based on demand approach is not appropriate for the reform proposal, because health care has to be approached on need base. If we do not make explicit values we should adopt, consensus building for reform is nearly impossible. From this perspective, this article will review an ideology and reality in health policies in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Rural Health Nursing
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.5-10
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• 2006

Purpose: This study was done to identify strategies for the reform of the primary health care delivery system in rural areas. Methods: Official documents on changes in the rural health care environment were reviewed along with previous articles on reform of the health care delivery system in rural areas. Results: The primary health care system in rural areas of South Korea has not been well developed by the government. The government has mainly invested in hardware like facilities and equipment but, not in software like the delivery system or personnel. Nowadays every country is confronted with an aging society, which means an increase in the prevalence of chronic disease. Thus they have again become interested in primary health care delivery system. Further, characteristics of the primary health care system have changed to be more comprehensive and to focus on chronic disease. The primary health care system in rural areas should have basic health care functions and a visiting medical officer(doctor) connected with basic health care. Conclusions: The primary health care delivery system is the best strategy when adjusted to the characteristic of the chronic diseases that are prevalent today. Cooperation of the central government and local government is important if these changes are to be realized.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.945-950
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• 2010

As the U.S. Congress has continued to debate over the health care reform pushed by President Obama, there is an ample reason to believe that the systematic risk of the health care industry, especially health care plan providers, is increasing. This study measures and compares the systematic risk of two health care industry indexes and one portfolio of health care plan providers from before and after the introduction of the health care legislation into Congress in September, 2009. The Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is used to measure the systematic risk, and a dummy variable approach and the Chow test are used to formally compare the systematic risk from before and after the introduction of the legislation.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.197-201
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• 2018

There is a general consensus that many health care problems are attributable to the structural defects of the health care delivery system in Korea. The basic policy aimed to address these problems is to reform the delivery system so as that it incorporates two core principles: (1) stratification of medical care institutions into primary, secondary, and tertiary care providers according to the capability to perform specialized and complex services; (2) patients seeking care starting from the primary care provider and, if necessary, to be referred to the other provider step by step. This policy has been consistently pursued for about 30 years, but the achievement is far from success. Thus it is believed that the feasibility of the policy should be questioned. Starting from this question, based upon the observation of the current structure of the delivery system and its expected changes, the reform policy was discussed focusing on the assessment of its feasibility from both practical and theoretical viewpoints. The discussion leads to cast doubt on the policy for its possibility of making planned changes and producing expected desirable effects. Therefore it is advisable to investigate a wide range of alternative strategies and models for improving health care delivery.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.18-48
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• 2004

Health policies in many countries have come under critical scrutiny in recent years. This is because of increasing national health expenditures. Also many persons in health sector have been the perception that resources allocated to health services are not always deployed in an optimal fashion. And they believe that the scope of resources in health services is limited, there is need to search for ways of using existing resources more efficiently. A further concern has been the desire to ensure access to healthcare of various groups on an equitable basis. In some European countries this has been linked to a wish to enhance patient choice and to make service providers more responsive to consumers, while Korea integrated health insurance funds into single fund in 2000. Many European countries are under considerable pressure to review and restructure their health care systems. There are several reasons of pressure to reform. There are demographic changes, pattern of disease change, advances in medical sciences will also give rise to new demands within the health services, public expectations of health services are rising as those who use services demand higher standards of care. These circumstances require the change of health care delivery system based on hierarchical regionalism, which was basis of health care delivery since 1920s. Korea is also under similarly pressure to restructure our own health care systems. We will have good learning from OECD experiences. In this paper we reviewed and compared among OECD countries' various experiences.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.342-356
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• 2019

Background: The objectives of the study are to find out the effect of the implementing reform in three Central Asian countries, identify its impact on health status and health care delivery systems. This study address to identify strong and weak points of the health systems and provide a recommendation for further health care organization. Methods: A comparative analysis was conducted to evaluate the effects of implemented policy on health care system efficiency and equity. Secondary data were collected on selected health indicators using information from the World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure Database, European Health Information Platform, and World Bank Open Data. Results: In terms of population status, countries achieved relatively good results. Infant mortality and under-5 mortality rate decreased in all countries; also, life expectancy increased, and it was more than 70 years. Regulations of the health systems are still highly centralized, and the Ministry of Health is the main organ responsible for national health policy developing and implementation. Among the three countries, only Kyrgyzstan was successful in introducing a national health system. Distribution of health expenditure between public expenditure and out-of-pocket payments was decreased, and out-of-pocket payments were less the 50% of total health expenditure in all countries, in 2014. Conclusion: After independent, all three countries implemented a certain number of the policy reform, mostly it was directed to move away from the old the Soviet system. Subsequent reform should be focused on evidence-based decision making and strengthening of primary health care in terms of new public health concepts.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.379-381
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• 2019

Korea's healthcare is in great danger of sustainability. In 2020, the baby boomer will begin to be older, and there is no promise that the total fertility rate of 1.0 or less will rebound, and Korea's economic growth rate is predicted to be less than 2%. Together with these phenomena, Plan for Benefit Expansion in Nation Health Insurance (Moon Jae-in Care) will seriously threaten the sustainability of health insurance finance. In addition, health care in Korea has many problems: excessive medical utilization, rapidly increasing elderly medical costs, concentrating patients into big hospitals, low healthcare personnel but many healthcare facilities and equipment, bad quality of primary and mental care, and fast-growing health expenditure. For sustainability, healthcare of Korea should be reformed. The direction of the reform is people-centered and integrated healthcare in the community which is composed of empowering and engaging people, strengthening governance and accountability, reorienting the model of care, coordinating services, and creating an enabling environment.