Government: "From June 1, Enhanced Compensation for Severe Heart Disease Interventional Procedures... Medical Reform to Be Completed Without Wavering"

"I am willing to have one-on-one conversations with doctors"

The government announced on the 29th that it will improve the reimbursement standards to ensure appropriate compensation for interventional procedures for severe heart diseases, which have not been adequately compensated due to the limitations of the current fee-for-service system, by considering factors such as waiting time, workload intensity, and difficulty.

The scope of emergency procedures for acute myocardial infarction, which currently receive 1.5 times the fee of general procedures, will be expanded, and the number of vessels recognized in cardiac vascular interventions will also be increased. Accordingly, fees for severe heart diseases will be raised by up to more than twice the existing rates.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Min-su, the 2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, explained at a briefing held after the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on doctors' collective action that "For example, when a superior general hospital performs stent insertion on four cardiac vessels, previously only two vessels were recognized, and a fee of about 2.27 million KRW was applied. However, from now on, procedures on all four vessels will be recognized, and a fee of about 4.63 million KRW, more than twice the previous amount, will be applied."

These improvements will be applied from June 1 after revising the reimbursement standards notice.

On the same day, Vice Minister Park repeatedly urged the medical community to stop collective action and return to the field.

Vice Minister Park said, "I hope the residents will end their collective action and return to their training sites, and I also ask medical school professors to stay by the patients' side," adding, "The government will continue to improve policies so that doctors who protect patients can work under better conditions, take pride in their work, and focus on medical care."

He also emphasized, "To prepare these improvement measures, I ask doctors to come to the dialogue table and actively participate," and added, "The Special Committee on Medical Reform has officially launched, and the government once again expresses its willingness to have one-on-one dialogues with doctors."

He concluded, "The sole purpose of these reforms is to promote the health of the people," and said, "The government will steadfastly complete medical reform and repay the citizens who have trusted and endured the government until now."