"Health Insurance Fund Surplus, This Is Real Skill" to Gominjeong... Lee Junseok: "Boasting About Squeezing Blood from the People"

Ko Min-jung, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, criticized Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, for boasting about the Moon Jae-in administration's achievements by citing last year's health insurance financial surplus, saying, "It's surprising to post this as something to be proud of."

On the 26th, Lee said on his Facebook, "It's not a pension that will be returned later, but a surplus in social insurance premiums means that unnecessary blood was squeezed from the people," expressing his view.

Earlier, Go had posted on Facebook the day before, addressing opposition lawmakers who claimed that Moon Care (Moon Jae-in Care) would ruin health insurance finances: "Last year, the health insurance financial surplus recorded more than 2.8 trillion won, and the accumulated reserves exceeded 20.2 trillion won."

Go added, "This is even more than the amount at the start of the Moon Jae-in administration," and said, "In other words, Moon Care lowered the burden of medical expenses on the people, and as you can see, the health insurance finances are solid. This is real capability."

This appears to align with President Moon Jae-in's direct rebuttal on the same day to concerns raised in some political circles about the deterioration of health insurance finances. President Moon stated, "Despite significantly expanding expenditures to strongly promote 'strengthening health insurance coverage,' which greatly reduces the medical expenses burden on the people as a flagship policy of our government, the health insurance financial situation has rather improved," and added, "Talks about health insurance financial deterioration or insolvency are just uninformed remarks."

Regarding this, Lee responded, "The accumulated health insurance reserves handed over to the Moon Jae-in administration at the end of the Park Geun-hye administration were 20.8 trillion won as of 2017," and said, "Please use some knowledge."

He continued, "A similar phenomenon occurred during MERS, but due to COVID-19, fewer people went to hospitals, so the health insurance finances merely maintained the status quo," and added, "According to projections from the National Assembly Budget Office, if Moon Care proceeds as planned, the 20 trillion won reserve will be completely depleted by 2024."

Lee pointed out, "If the surplus in national health insurance premiums due to fewer hospital visits during COVID-19 is considered the Moon Jae-in administration's capability, then the Park Geun-hye administration's achievement from fewer hospital visits during MERS is also capability," but said, "That is not capability but an unexpected variable."

He criticized, "Self-employed people are struggling because they could not properly run their businesses due to COVID-19, yet the social insurance premium surplus generated by COVID-19 is being promoted as an achievement."

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