Plan to submit the reform bill to the National Assembly in the second half of next year
President 尹 “I will listen to the National Assembly discussion”
Reexamination of policies to strengthen health insurance guarantees
Discussions on structural reform to integrate the four major occupational pensions, the national pension, civil servant pension, and private school pension, are in full swing. In order to improve the national pension, which is increasingly concerned regarding depletion, it will find a ‘breakthrough’ by linking it with the occupational pension, which has different income replacement rates, insurance premium rates, and finances. We also decided to review the government’s policy to strengthen health insurance coverage, which was called ‘Moon Jae-in Care’.
On the 19th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare reported to President Yoon Seok-yeol of the ‘New Government Work Plan’ containing the same content as the national pension reform direction. First of all, it was decided to start the fiscal projection (the 5th), which is the basis for pension reform, within this month. A plan to reorganize the national pension in connection with the current plan to raise the basic pension from 300,000 won to 400,000 won is also planned to be submitted to the National Assembly in the second half of next year (July to December).
In addition, the government decided to support the National Pension, Civil Service Pension, Teachers Pension, Military Pension, and Special Post Office Pension to be discussed at the National Assembly Pension Reform Special Committee. In the 4th fiscal projection for 2018, it was predicted that the national pension would start running in the red in 2042 and run out of funds in 2057. An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “The interests of each pension recipient are complicated, so it is impossible to promote integration at the level of individual ministries such as the Ministry of Welfare.
At a dinner with the Speaker of the National Assembly on the same day, President Yoon mentioned pension and labor reform and emphasized that it is “a story regarding how to solve problems for future generations.” He added, “In the process of (reform), we need to seek the consent of the people and discuss it so that politics can overcome various difficulties. I will also listen to the parliamentary debate,” he said.
On the same day, the Ministry of Health and Welfare also focused on reorganizing the health insurance finances and strengthening essential medical care suffering from a chronic shortage of medical staff. The government decided to re-evaluate whether or not to apply health insurance to these people, as the government pointed out that unnecessary medical use increased as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were covered.
By introducing the ‘public policy fee’, the fee for essential subjects suffering from a shortage of medical staff, such as neurosurgery, will be increased, and infrastructure support for areas vulnerable to childbirth will be strengthened.
Reporter Lee Ji-woon easy@donga.com
Reporter Hong Soo-young gaea@donga.com
