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| President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a Cabinet meeting held in the presidential office in Yongsan District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Kang Hyun-kyung
President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday criticized the expanded healthcare coverage reforms undertaken during the previous Moon Jae-in administration, known as "Mooncare," calling the reforms "populist policies that waste taxpayer money."
In a strongly worded speech at a Cabinet meeting held in the presidential office, Yoon called for the "urgent normalization" of the state-run health insurance program and stressed that overhauling "Mooncare" is "not an option, but a necessity."
Yoon called the set of strengthened health insurance policies known as "Mooncare" nothing but populist policies that "lead to the bankrupting of finances" of the government and "ultimately force the people to make great sacrifices."
"Over the past five years, over 20 trillion won has been poured into strengthening health insurance coverage," Yoon said. "But the burden has been passed on to the majority of people as the government has neglected the abuse of medical treatment and free riders (on the state health insurance)," he said.
He called for stricter standards on health insurance benefits and the eligibility of those insured to prevent the wasting of insurance funds. "The money that is saved from these reforms will be spent to help the underprivileged suffering from a lack of policy support," the president said.
Yoon made the remarks days after the nation's health authorities implied they are targeting "Mooncare" for reform, now making it public that the government intends to abolish the set of policies.
During a hearing on the sustainability of the health insurance system held last Thursday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said that stricter standards will be applied to insurance coverage in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) checkups and ultrasound scans. It also vowed to use more stringent qualifications for foreign residents' dependents and require them to reside in Korea for at least six months to become eligible for the national health insurance.
Adopted in 2017, "Mooncare" aimed to introduce universal health insurance, strengthening Korea's national healthcare coverage, a move similar to Obamacare in the U.S. Under the current plan, some 3,800 non-reimbursable treatments will be reduced gradually to guarantee better access to affordable healthcare. MRI checkups and ultrasound scans, which were previously non-reimbursable, became affordable as they are covered by the state-run health insurance.
The set of policies triggered a heated debate among health experts. Treatments such as MRI checkups and ultrasound scans were abused by some patients, while other patients on non-reimbursable treatments were feeling the pinch.
According to the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), 18.9 billion won was spent in 2018 to cover MRI checkups and ultrasound scans in 2018, but the figure rose tenfold in 2021 as those treatments became reimbursable. The rise in the NHIS' healthcare insurance funds used on those treatments has worsened the financial soundness of the state-run health insurance agency.
Critics say "Mooncare" is a waste of taxpayer money, as it led to excessive medical treatments for some patients. However, supporters defend the program, saying that the benefits of the early detection of certain diseases outweigh the drawbacks of the abuse of some treatments.
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