Jeong Gi-seok Appointed as Chairman of National Health Insurance Service... "Innovating Health Insurance in a New Direction"

As health insurance reform emerges as a key issue, Jeong Gi-seok, the newly appointed chairman of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), identified establishing sustainable insurance finances, supporting essential medical policies, and creating a customized health management system tailored to each life stage in the era of 100-year lifespans as core tasks.

At the inauguration ceremony held on the morning of the 11th at the NHIS headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province, Chairman Jeong stated, "We will innovate health insurance in a new direction, but we will proceed with sufficient evidence and consensus without rushing, so as not to cause inconvenience or confusion to the public."

Jung Ki-seok, President of the National Health Insurance Service, is delivering his inaugural speech at the inauguration ceremony on the 11th.
[Photo by National Health Insurance Service]

Chairman Jeong said, "The socio-economic environment directly related to us, including entering a super-aged society, the increase in chronic diseases, anxiety about the next pandemic, and uncertain economic conditions, is by no means easy," adding, "Health insurance is facing growing concerns about sustainability as expenditures continue to rise with limited resources."

He presented tasks such as ▲ alleviating the burden of medical expenses on the public to ensure they can receive necessary medical care sufficiently ▲ innovation to establish sustainable insurance finances ▲ building a customized health management system by life cycle ▲ long-term care insurance for the elderly to confidently face the era of 100-year lifespans ▲ enhancing the value of big data utilization. Regarding the operation direction of the NHIS, he emphasized ▲ setting communication and consideration as core values ▲ sincere innovation based on anti-corruption and integrity ▲ administrative management based on objective evidence.

In particular, concerning the establishment of health insurance finances, he mentioned, "While operating a sound benefit expenditure management system to prevent unnecessary financial expenditures, we will thoroughly block financial leakage by detecting illegally established institutions," and added, "We will monitor the entire process from consultation, examination, to medication to ensure that the public receives the most medically appropriate healthcare services and prepare improvement plans."

He also emphasized the role of health insurance in reducing the public’s medical expense burden. Chairman Jeong said, "We will strengthen support for vulnerable groups facing high medical costs through policies supporting essential medical care directly related to public life and enhancing catastrophic medical expense support," and continued, "We will steadily promote the pilot project for sickness benefits to lay the foundation for introducing a Korean-style sickness benefit system and improve accessibility to essential medicines such as treatments for severe and rare diseases and anticancer drugs."

Finally, Chairman Jeong expressed his aspirations, saying, "With a humble attitude, I will listen to the diverse voices of the public and stakeholders and continue communicating with all employees to create an NHIS that opens a new future."

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