Busan City Selected as Best Institution for Medical Benefits Financial Management ... Ranked 1st Among 17 Cities and Provinces Nationwide

Ministry of Health and Welfare Selected as Best Institution... Saved 34.1 Billion KRW Compared to Expected Payments

Top in '2023 Medical Aid Project Evaluation', Ranked 1st in Both Medical Aid Evaluations

Busan City was selected as the best institution by ranking first among 17 cities and provinces nationwide in the ‘2022 Medical Aid Financial Management Evaluation’ hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

This consecutive achievement follows the award for the best institution in the ‘2023 Medical Aid Project Evaluation,’ which assessed the overall medical aid project. Busan’s excellence in medical aid administration stands out by securing first place in both evaluation categories conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2023.

The medical aid project provides medical services such as diagnosis, treatment, and testing for people facing financial difficulties due to medical issues (illness, injury, childbirth, etc.). Currently, there are 146,619 medical aid recipients in Busan, with this year’s project budget amounting to 1.1657 trillion KRW. The budget is rapidly increasing every year due to population aging.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced the Medical Aid Financial Management Incentive System in 2021 to reduce local governments’ medical aid expenditures through case management of the increasing number of medical aid recipients. The system evaluates the previous year’s (annual) performance once a year.

Based on last year’s performance, local governments are evaluated on financial savings compared to target values (5-year average annual growth rate) by city/province, and the difference between target and actual expenditures within groups by scale. Outstanding local governments are selected and given incentives.

Busan City was highly evaluated for reducing medical aid payments by 34.1 billion KRW compared to the expected payments of the previous year in 2022, ranking first among 17 cities and provinces nationwide and receiving a reward of 25 million KRW.

To continuously reduce medical aid expenses, the city has formed and operates a dedicated task force (TF) for joint medical aid financial expenditure reduction with city, district/county, and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service.

The task force (TF) has established a close cooperative system with related organizations such as the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, systematically managed long-term inpatients through joint visit mediation projects, and has continuously worked to promote recipients’ health and stabilize medical aid finances.

The Medical Benefits System and the Medical Benefits Case Review Meeting in progress.

In particular, Busan City is actively promoting projects such as conducting a survey on 190 patients in 15 nursing hospitals to identify the status and issues of long-term frequent inpatients among homeless facility recipients, and holding case review meetings between city and district/county medical aid managers to strengthen case management.

Currently, considering that 44.4% of medical aid recipients in Busan are aged 65 or older, the city is conducting a pilot home-based medical aid project targeting six districts to support discharged patients’ return and settlement in the community. The project actively supports medical aid recipients with side dish provision, hospital outpatient support, and more. According to a survey by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, over 88% of pilot project participants expressed satisfaction, proving its effectiveness.

The six districts are Buk-gu, Haeundae-gu, Busanjin-gu, Seo-gu, Dongnae-gu, and Sasang-gu.

Accordingly, the city plans to thoroughly prepare for the nationwide expansion of the home-based medical aid project scheduled for July next year by further strengthening internal capacity-building education.

Part of the reward money received from being selected as the best local government in medical aid financial management will be used to provide necessary supplies so that vulnerable groups, including recipients residing in elderly care facilities, can have a warm winter.

The city has decided to donate a total of 8 million KRW by directly supporting necessary items for medical aid recipients who are discharged from nursing hospitals and admitted to elderly care facilities using the Ministry of Health and Welfare reward funds.

This is a follow-up case to the 15 million KRW donation to vulnerable groups using reward funds from three social welfare categories on December 27, and it stands out as a heartwarming example of reward fund execution fitting for the Busan City Social Welfare Bureau, which plans and promotes support for socially disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun stated, “This excellent local government selection was possible thanks to the active efforts of medical aid officials in the city and districts/counties. We will continue to provide stable medical services to those facing difficulties so they can enjoy a healthy life, operate a solid medical aid project by inducing appropriate medical use through case management, and do our best to reduce medical aid finances in the future.”