• Health Policy and Management
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.135-154
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• 1998

In Korea, the institutional reform for the national medical insurance system is in process. Eventually, three kinds of the national medical insurance system, i.e., medical insurance program for the industrial workers, the govemment employees and the private school teachers, and the self-employeds, would be merged into an unifed system. In this study, I analyzed the annual trends of the finance in the medical insurance system in Korea, in which I found the financial instability especially in the medical insurance program for the self-employeds. The regression analysis was carried out to forecast the accumulated reserve at the end of this year for the medical insurance program for the self-employeds. I also analyzed the economic effect of the merge of the medical insurance program for the self-employeds by using the case of Japan and Korea. I found that the medical insurance for the self-employeds is expected to have financial deficit at the end of the year 1998 after the merge. In onclusion, it seems to be quite difficult to solve the financial instability in the medical insurance program for the self-employeds after it would be merged. That means that there would be a lot of problems on the way to the merge.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.137-148
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• 1997

The Serial Securities and the Social Welfare, as the national policy aimed at securing generals' lives, are the policies or systems for the stabilization in lift; especially of law-incomers and workers, for which the povernment has to establish the Social Security System. No wonder the Social Insurance System is a part of the Social Security System and the most important. The Social Insurance System, along with Public Assistance, is underlying the Social Security System. Social Security System includes medical insurance, industrial accident Compensation insurance, national pention insurance and employment insurance. The study is on 'The Oriental Medical Insurance and the Industrial Accident Compensation in the Social Security System' . The rate of industrial accident in Korea marks the highest rank in the world. for laborer, industrial accident do not merely mean the loss of health but the question of the right to live in terms of their loss of opportunity of life. The industrial accident compensation system should be established as the es post facto remedy system to guarantee the injured worker and his/her family's life. The oriental medical insurance system which began to operate in 1987 in Korea is based on unionism and divided into 3 parts; one part for the worker, a second part for the community inhabitants, and a third part for the public service personnel and private school personnel. Today the medical problem must be the most important social assignment to be considered. The medical system of contemporary industrial society has began greatly stood out in relief as a part of social welfare not emphasized on gainings of physicians. Accordingly systematization of the oriental medical insurance was strongly Pursued and it was developed to to the extent of entire nation insurance. Though the history of it is very short, most of the people are getting benefit from the insurance system by the social security system method. This study develops the Oriental Medical Insurance, the Workmen's Accident Compensation Insurance, the Pension System in relation to the industrial accident compensation of Employees, along with the ideas and principles of social insurance.

• The Journal of the Korean life insurance medical association
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.85-95
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• 2008

When an insurance company receives an application for life or health insurance, the company must evaluate the degree of risk the individual for insurance coverage presents before the company agrees to issue the policy. A medical factor is a physical or psychological characteristic that may increases a hazard. A financial factor is financial information that is taken into account by underwriter to determine if a person is applying for more than he/she reasonably needs or can afford. A personal factor is a lifestyle choice. There are several medical risk selection systems in Korean life insurance market. They are attending physician's statement, direct examination by insurance doctors, and paramedic examination. However there is some dissatisfaction of current system. It is possible that cooperation of part-time insurance doctors system may be one of useful system of medical risk selection. Improvement of medical risk selection system will be an important matter of profitability of insurance company and it will contribute to sound life insurance system.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.29-57
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• 2001

Since the inauguration of the medical insurance system in 1977, the increasing medical expenses which can be menace to tile finance of the medical insurance system, have become major concern in the medical insurance field In Korea. This study focuses on the determinants of the medical expenses in the health insurance in Korea and analyzes the impact of these factors on the increase in the medical expenses. The empirical work is done using the pooled cross-section and time-series data of the medical insurance for the self-employeds and the industrial workers from the year 1995 to 1997. The result of this study shows that the main determinants of the medical expenses in the health insurance are the ratio of the population of the aged to the total population, the frequency of the utilization, number of doctors per capita and the regime changes. Although the increasing trend in the medical expenses seems to be unavoidable, we probably need to add some efficiency to the medical expenses by suppressing the supply and the utilization of the unnecessary medical services. The fee-for-service reimbursement system of today can't suppress the supply of the unnecessary medical services effectively. So we need to convert the present fee-for-service system into DRG's which is known to reduce the medical costs. The increase in the medical expenses comes from a lot of factors. Therefore, we should develop more systematic and comprehensive measures to control the soaring medical expenses in consideration of the various factors such as demand, supply, and the organizational side of the medical system.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.9-35
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• 2007

The Health care program in Korea has now been systemized after 30 years of declaring the inauguration of the national health insurance system by the current government. The national health care covering all Korean citizens was achieved after 12 years of implementing the national health insurance and the health care program since 1977. Hundreds of multiple operational agencies managing the insured individually had undergone the amalgamation process from 1998 to 2000, and had been restructured as one agency, the National Health Insurance Corporation. In 2003, the community/area based financial management was also merged together with the employment based financial management. The National health care system of Korea offer various merits, compared with that of other countries, such as health care provision covering all Koreans, low insurance premium, accessibility of medical services/facilities etc. However, there are still some weak features which need to be addressed for improvement; below expectation insurance cover system, mistrust on the medical services, low medical charges resulted from excessive restrictions, and unstable financial status of the national health insurance etc. Therefore, the National health care system should continue to evolve to re-establish itself as more effective national health care system by further strengthening its merits, and by improving its weaknesses; with adopting the positive system to optimize the costs of prescribed medicines/drugs, applying simpler insurance coverage system to calculate the optimum medical charges, promoting private medical insurances, and increasing insurance premium etc.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.11-21
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• 1993

Recently the structure of disease is changing its form into chronic disease. Taking into consideration this, the health care system doesn't cope with this tendency. With the health care system for acute disease, it is difficult to decrease medical care cost. At this point, Health education like primary health care can reduce risk factors and possibilities of occurrence of disease. This can cut off the medical insurance finance further more cuts off the rates of insurance cost. This is why health education is the principle part of medical insurance service. Though the law shows health education must be executed in the field of Medical insurance, still it is not enough. In order to carry out health education in the medical insurance organization, the efforts we should make are as follows: 1. Recognize the importance of health education. 2. Set the clear goals in health education. 3. Organize health education system. 4. Train health workers. 5. Systematize health education service. 6. Reform the medical insurance system. 7. Evaluate the effect of health education and practice the model.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.137-177
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• 2007

The medical expenses review system in Korea has developed under fee-for-service system with its own unique structure. The importance of reviewing medical expenses has been emphasized, as the size of medical expenditures moving through the health insurance legal context and its weight in the national economy have increased very rapidly. It is, however, analyzed that the feuds and arguments continue among the stakeholders for the lack of laws supporting the medical expenses review system. The medical expenses review is a series of administrative procedures, deciding whether claims from medical care institutions to the insurer are legal and valid or not. It mainly controls the increase of unnecessarily excessive health insurance claim and prevents fraudulent claim and abuse and checks the less use or unsuitable use of medical resources. It also works a function guarantees medical benefits for the appropriate treatment according to the object of health insurance system as a social insurance scheme. The dispute on legal base of the medical expenses review is about the source of law in the medical expenses review. There are the Health Insurance Act and administrative laws as jus scriptum and the guidelines of review as administrative orders. The medical expenses review should reflect various factors, such as the development of medical healthcare technologies, the health expenditures distribution, the financial situation of the health insurance, and the evaluation on the level of appropriate benefits. It is also likely to adapt to the traits of characters of medicine, and trends and transition, Besides it should judge the legality and the validity of medical benefits expenditures by synthesizing these all factors. And the evaluation system of appropriateness of medical benefits was administrative procedure which was consecutive with reviewing the medical expenses system and it was intended to make up for the result of reviewing the medical expenses in more comprehensive levels.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.69-118
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• 2007

In providing general medical treatments, the medical service contract between the patient and the doctor is the mutually responsible onerous contract. However, the nature of the mutually assumed contract standings of the patient and the doctor has been changing since the implementation of the national health insurance program. For instance, besides the cases of beyond excessive medical charges and medical negligence, if the doctor charged for his/her medical treatments violating the post-treatment/nursing cover criteria, the overpaid medical charge, regardless of being collected with the patient's consent, has to be refunded back to the patient. Medically needed aspects, treatment results, and unfair benefits favoring the patient are not at all taken into consideration in the health insurance scheme. This makes it easier for patients to get refunds for their share of the medical payments by involving the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service or the National Health Insurance Corporation, without engaging in civil law suits (for reimbursement claim) against doctors. In other words, the doctor's responsibility to provide medical treatments and the patient's responsibility to pay for the medical treatment provided within the contractual realm are being demolished by the administrational arbitration of the National Health Insurance system. The basic rights of medical service providers, and the patient's right to choose are as important constitutional rights, as the National Health Insurance program, which is essential in the social welfare system. Furthermore, the development of the medical fields should not be prevented by the National Health Insurance system. If the medical treatment services can be divided into necessary treatments, general treatments, and high quality treatments, the National Health Insurance is supposed to guarantee the necessary and general treatments to provide medical treatments equally to all the insured with limited financial resources. However, for the high quality treatments, it is recommended that they should not be interfered by the National Health Insurance system, and that they should be left to the private contract between the patient and the doctor.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.423-436
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• 2021

This article summarizes the structure of China's current social health insurance system and reviews the development status of China's private health insurance (PHI). China's medical security system is mainly composed of two parts: basic medical insurance (BMI) and PHI. Among them, the BMI provides reimbursement of basic medical expenses for the insured persons according to different proportions. PHI is a necessary supplement to the BMI and provides assistance to the insured persons in the event of illness or accident. By having PHI, people can obtain medical protection outside the coverage of BMI. In the development of PHI in China, the total medical cost is high and the insurance market size is large, but the proportion of PHI expenditure is low and the personal burden is high. Through this Chinese case, it will be helpful for mutual development between Korean PHI and national health insurance, for Korean insurance companies to enter the Chinese market, and for removing the medical burden on the people.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.43-59
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• 2018

This study aims to review various efforts required by medical institutions to prevent medical accidents in advance and to suggest the necessity of introducing liability insurance for medical accidents based on cases abroad and compulsory professional indemnity insurance at home. Over the past five years between 2013 and 2017, the number of inquiries regarding medical accidents and medical disputes has increased by 11.1 percent from 36,099 to 54,929, and the number of mediation and arbitration for medical disputes has increased by 14.3 percent from 1,304 to 2,225. Since some medical accidents even cause social problems, a compulsory insurance system for the liability of medical institutions for damages need to be introduced to promptly compensate the victims of medical accidents and to ensure compensation by medical personnel. In Korea, a system is in place to provide compensation for a client who suffers an accidental damage after receiving professional services, regardless of whether or not the professional service provider can provide compensation. In major foreign countries, a medical liability system is in place that is applied either by the principle of liability with fault, or the principle of liability without fault. In this study, the cases of compulsory insurance and semi-compulsory insurance in the US and Japan to which the principle of liability with fault is applied, as well as the case of New Zealand to which the principle of liability without fault is applied, were examined. It is necessary to urgently introduce the compulsory insurance system for the liability of compensation to prevent medical disputes and to compensate for the life and physical damages of the victims of medical accidents in domestic medical institutions. Doing so is expected to ensure fair compensation for the victims of medical malpractice and compensation by medical personnel, thereby improving medical practice.