Government Provides 96 Billion Won to Improve COVID-19 Medical Staff Working Conditions

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The government will provide 96 billion KRW to improve the treatment of medical personnel working on the front lines of COVID-19 patient care.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held the 10th Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee meeting of 2021 and announced the decision to establish a temporary fee for supporting original-affiliated medical personnel responding to COVID-19. The government will support a total of 96 billion KRW to 79 infectious disease-dedicated hospitals, 11 base-dedicated hospitals, and 50 institutions operating severe patient-dedicated treatment beds. These institutions can calculate a support payment once per day of hospitalization for COVID-19 patients.

The support payment calculation period starts from February for COVID-19 patient treatment and lasts until the funds are exhausted. It is expected that the fee will be applied for about six months of treatment.

The same fee will be applied regardless of the type of medical institution, but reflecting that more personnel are deployed for patients with higher severity, an increased fee will be calculated for severe patients admitted to intensive care units and similar facilities.

Medical institutions receiving the support funds must distribute the entire amount to the medical personnel dedicated to responding to COVID-19. Each institution can decide the recipients and payment amounts by occupation according to their personnel operation status and work conditions. However, the support funds are limited to medical personnel involved in COVID-19 patient treatment and response.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated, "Due to the nature of fees paid at the medical institution level, it is difficult to clearly verify the costs paid to medical personnel. However, considering the purpose of establishing the fee, we will request cooperation to ensure the entire support fund is paid to the responsible medical personnel and will collect related costs and supporting documents from medical institutions."

Kang Do-tae, the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, said, "We hope this support fee will encourage infection control efforts by medical personnel and boost their morale."

Meanwhile, the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee expressed regret that the National Assembly and government decided to use health insurance funds to support COVID-19 medical personnel costs without going through the committee’s procedures and processes. Accordingly, the committee resolved a supplementary opinion stating, "The National Assembly and government should actively strive to fully exercise the committee’s authority regarding health insurance benefits under the National Health Insurance Act, and the 48 billion KRW support provided this time should be additionally reflected in the 2022 health insurance national subsidy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.