Lunar holiday hospital plan

[Anchor]

The government has decided to secure as many hospitals as possible that will remain open during the Lunar New Year holiday.

They plan to increase financial compensation for emergency care by up to 300% to prevent medical gaps.

Concerns are also being raised that the prolonged conflict between the government and the medical community is draining health insurance finances.

Joo Hyun-ji reports.

[Report]

Last year, on the first day of the Chuseok holiday, a pregnant woman experiencing bleeding symptoms had to call 75 hospitals before receiving the necessary treatment.

In order to prevent such delays during the upcoming Lunar New Year, the government has announced a plan to increase emergency medical support for the two weeks surrounding the holiday.

The government had already raised the compensation for overnight and holiday emergency surgeries by 200% and will now increase it by an additional 100%.

Similar to last year's Chuseok, the local emergency room consultation fee will also be increased by 15,000 won, and additional fees will be provided for consultations at open clinics and for pharmacy prescriptions.

[Cho Gyu-hong/Minister of Health and Welfare: "We will secure as many open hospitals and pharmacies as possible to alleviate the medical gap during the Lunar New Year holiday."]

Ultimately, the government's plan is to use health insurance finances to prevent medical gaps during the holiday.

Last year, 56.4 billion won was spent during the Chuseok holiday, and over 1.4 trillion won was invested in emergency medical operations by December.

The government explains that the burden on patients remains the same, but if health insurance finances are insufficient, the insurance premiums paid by the public will increase.

There are also forecasts that the accumulated reserves of health insurance will run out in three years.

[Jung Hyung-sun/Professor of Health Administration at Yonsei University: ""If this policy continues, it may have a negative long-term impact on the health insurance fund."]

Kim Taek-woo, president of the Korean Medical Association, reiterated today (1.16) at a press conference that the government must present a plan for normalizing medical school education before discussing next year's quotas.

This is Joo Hyun-ji from KBS News.