President Kim Yong-ik of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

Newly inaugurated President Kim Yong-ik of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said his most important tasks are the President Moon Jae-in government’s policy of strengthening coverage of health insurance and revamping the health insurance premium system, scheduled to be translated into action in July. 

New NHIS President Kim made the remarks at the inaugural speech he delivered as he took office as president & CEO of the institution in the NHIS headquarters in Wonju on Jan. 2.  NHIS President Kim is one the architects of the President Moon government’s initiative of converting some therapeutic care items into full-coverage. 

“The so-called President Moon’s Care Initiative is to undergo tremendous changes the way health insurance is almost redesigned in the course of the scope of health insurance benefits and kinds and the determining of doctor’s fees, and it may be the dramatic restructuring of insurance benefits,” Kim said. 

“(We’ll) make all-out efforts to have a fully understanding of misgivings medical care providers express as they are greatly influenced particularly by benefits and doctor’s bills and reflect views of all interest parties,” he added. President Kim emphasized the importance of revamping the system of imposing health insurance contributions, which will go into effect in July.

“The system of imposing health insurance contributions is like a corner stone of the health insurance,” President Kim said. 

Gaining public trust by imposing medical insurance contributions in a fair and transparent fashion is to lay a foundation of the medical health insurance, he noted. 

“Even though the overhauling of the imposition system of health insurance contributions cannot eliminate all dissatisfaction and complaints that have popped up so far,” he said, “it is obvious that it is the best revamped option to be translated into action currently.”

Kim called for NHIS to do its best so that an institutional conversion can be made in a stable fashion, saying that converting non-covered therapeutic items into full coverage and revamping the imposing of health insurance contributions are the final stage of health insurance reform. In particular, Kim said the views of medical service providers who demand the normalizing of doctor’s bills before the strengthening of insurance benefits will be considered.

New NHIS President Kim also stressed the need for taking steps to extend insurance contribution collection periods to secure stable contribution revenues and cope with rising medical expenses. A decline in an insurance contribution base, caused by a low-birth rate and an aging population, is a serious concern. 

Kim added that he will begin to present options to brace for the challenges and prepare for the future in the coming months. He disclosed his determination to provide support for shared growth with hospitals and clinics as well as pharmaceutical, but also to get tough with illegal practices they commit. 

The KHIS and the Insurance Review & Assessment Service will cooperate and collaborate with each other, and how to nurture them and provide support is the KHIS’s major responsibility, President Kim said. But he said the KHNIS will take stern countermeasures to cope with rampant illegal practices and wrongdoings at hospitals operated by office managers without medical licenses. 

NHIS headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon-do. (Photos: NHIS)