Health Insurance and Medical Associations Begin 2023 Fee Negotiations... "We Will Find a Reasonable Balance"

Contract Signing by the 31st of This Month

Leaders of the National Health Insurance Service and medical associations gathered to negotiate the increase in fees to be paid to healthcare institutions next year.

On the 4th, Kang Do-tae, Director of the National Health Insurance Service, held a meeting at the Seoul Garden Hotel in Mapo-gu, Seoul, with six heads of medical associations: Lee Pil-su, President of the Korean Medical Association; Yoon Dong-seop, President of the Korean Hospital Association; Park Tae-geun, President of the Korean Dental Association; Hong Ju-ui, President of the Korean Oriental Medicine Association; Choi Kwang-hoon, President of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association; and Kim Ok-kyung, President of the Korean Midwives Association.

At the meeting, Director Kang stated, "The Service will strive to find a reasonable balance through bilateral negotiations within the broad framework of strengthening coverage and maintaining stable financial management for subscribers, and guaranteeing appropriate fees to maintain healthcare infrastructure for providers." He added, "I hope that with the active cooperation of the association heads, smooth negotiations will be achieved."

Lee Pil-su, President of the Korean Medical Association, emphasized, "Even during the two years of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have done our best to protect the lives of the people and actively cooperated with quarantine measures. It is now time for proper consideration of the dedication of healthcare professionals."

Choi Kwang-hoon, President of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, said, "Last year, pharmacy service fees recovered compared to the previous year, reaching about 4.08 trillion won, similar to 2018, but the number of pharmacies increased by 7.7% compared to 2018, exceeding 23,000. While total pharmacy service fees remain at the level of four years ago, the increase in the number of institutions means that pharmacy dispensing income is decreasing year by year, which is a regrettable situation." He added, "I hope this meeting will be an opportunity to carefully review the difficulties pharmacies are facing and achieve good negotiations."

The National Health Insurance Service and the medical associations will begin full-scale negotiations starting next week following this meeting. A Service official stated, "Contracts will be signed by the 31st in accordance with the National Health Insurance Act."

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