Government suspends health insurance reform
By Jung Min-ho
Moon Hyung-pyo
Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo said Wednesday that the ministry has dropped a plan to reform the country’s healthcare insurance system this year.
Speaking to reporters at the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), Moon said he decided not to review the reform plan this year due to the “sensitive” nature of the policy, which was expected to increase the financial burden of middle- and upper-income groups.
“The change would ease the financial burden of some groups, but it is expected to draw complaints from office workers whose tax burden will increase,” Moon said. “We need social consensus for change. We need more time to convince those who oppose the reform.”
In 2013, the government started mapping out the plan to reform the system as the rapidly-aging population and low birthrate was expected to swell NHIC’s yearly deficit up to 132 trillion won by 2060 in a worst-case scenario.
In short, in addition to simplifying the complicated ways of collecting premiums, the government planned to charge the high-income class more for insurance fees through the policy change.
Experts believe that the recent frustrations over the year-end tax settlement, which pulled down the approval rating of President Park Geun-hye to an all time low of below 30 percent, affected the decision.
Moon admitted he had to consider the public sentiment before dropping the plan.
“We are in a situation, where everything has to be done very carefully,” he said.