Hospitals and Clinics in TK Facing Financial Difficulties to Receive Health Insurance Benefits in Advance

On the 2nd, as the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection increases, hospital staff at Seonam Hospital in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, designated as a COVID-19 dedicated hospital, are conducting questionnaire forms and fever checks for people entering and exiting the hospital. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Medical institutions in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions facing operational difficulties due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) will be able to receive health insurance benefits in advance.

On the 4th, the National Health Insurance Service announced that it had reviewed and approved the 'Special Case for Advance Payment of Medical Care Benefits Related to COVID-19' at the Finance Management Committee meeting held the previous day. Earlier, the government determined that frontline hospitals and clinics were experiencing difficulties due to COVID-19 and decided to implement a special case allowing these institutions to receive benefits earlier by shortening the claim review period or to receive payments in advance. A similar advance payment was made during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in 2015.

The special advance payment support targets medical institutions in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, among 5,947 medical institutions, that apply for support. Applications can be submitted to the NHIS headquarters or branch offices. The advance payment amount will be the average monthly amount of medical care benefits received by the institution during March and April of last year. The NHIS stated that support will be prioritized for infectious disease control institutions where COVID-19 patients are hospitalized and treated, with payments to be made sequentially starting from the 6th over two rounds in March and April this year.

Considering the normalization of medical institutions' management afterward, the NHIS plans to set a period during which the advance payments will be evenly offset monthly. During the MERS outbreak, the special advance payment was made for two months and then evenly settled over four months. The NHIS explained, "Due to the urgent need to secure short-term operating funds caused by the decrease in patients at frontline medical institutions in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, the special case was promptly implemented."

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