[22nd Rising Star](17) Lee Ju-young "Doctors Are Both Providers and Consumers... Do Not Cut the Goose's Belly"

Need to Reform Unreasonable Essential Medical Fee System
First Bill Amends Emergency Medical Service Act to Ease Burden

Editor's NoteThere are 131 first-term lawmakers entering the 22nd National Assembly. This is the lowest number since the 16th National Assembly in 2000, which had 112. The public expects these lawmakers to lead politics of dialogue and compromise amid a situation where the ruling party is in the minority, delivering tangible results. We introduce the elected officials who are expected to bring a fresh breeze to the 22nd National Assembly. (1) Park Ji-hye (2) Go Dong-jin (3) Kwak Sang-eon (4) Park Soo-min (5) Park Chung-kwon (6) Seo Myung-ok (7) Lim Mi-ae (8) Choi Eun-seok (9) Boo Seung-chan (10) Wi Seong-rak (11) Jo Seung-hwan (12) Kim Nam-hee (13) Kim Jun-hyung (14) Park Sung-hoon (15) Kim Hyun-jung (16) Kim Yong-tae (17) Lee Ju-young

"Doctors are both medical providers and consumers. Since they are the ones who must protect this domain, they do not harm their own interests."

On the 24th, Lee Ju-young, a lawmaker from the Reform New Party, said this in an interview with Asia Economy. She emphasized that the ongoing conflict between the medical community and the government over medical school enrollment expansion for three months is not about doctors protecting their own 'rice bowls' for personal gain. Lee, a former professor at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital's Pediatric Emergency Center, stated that if 'essential medical care' is not preserved, residents will not return.

Lee identified the unreasonable fee system in the essential medical care sector as one of the core issues in the conflict between the medical community and the government. She said, "When South Korea established the National Health Insurance in the 1970s, the value of medical services was set at a very low amount, and although national income has increased, the value of medical services has never been re-evaluated." She diagnosed, "The more one is in a core medical field, the more they are under state control with restricted freedom, and due to poor compensation systems and high risks, they inevitably seek freedom and leave."

Lee Ju-young, the elected member of the Reform New Party, is giving an interview to Asia Economy at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Essential medical care refers to the so-called 'vital departments' trained to treat emergency patients (internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, surgery, emergency medicine, etc.). There are concerns that the government's policy package to strengthen essential medical care, including expanding medical school enrollment, is actually accelerating the departure of medical students. She said, "In essential medical care, all decisions, responsibilities, and costs are shifted to individual doctors while the government only sets prices," adding, "If that's the case, fee determination should be allowed to be done by the market."

Lee said, "Medical students think, under government control and even with the thought that a single word from the government can change their lives this much, they do not want to work so hard in essential medical care," and emphasized, "The government talks about non-reimbursed services as very greedy and bad, and mentions a sense of mission regarding doctors who used to handle core medical care leaving, but I think this is something the state should never say to individuals."

As a solution to the avoidance of essential medical care, she proposed building a new medical system utilizing base hospitals. She argued that centers capable of final treatment operating 24 hours should be constructed in each base. Lee said, "The idea is to reinforce sufficient personnel in the avoided departments, establish a proper compensation system for them, and build medical centers with legal protections against excessive risks," adding, "Operating in three regions?Central, Yeongnam, and Honam?would be sufficient."

Lee Ju-young, the elected member of the Reform New Party, is giving an interview to Asia Economy at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Lee said that her first bill in the 22nd National Assembly would be "to push for amendments to the Emergency Medical Service Act and the Mental Health Welfare Act." She explained, "Currently, under the Emergency Medical Service Act, when 119 (rescue team) designates an emergency room and transports a patient, the hospital doctor bears all responsibility for the patient's life regardless of surgery or hospitalization, and I want to amend this excessive burden."

Regarding her decision to engage in political activities with the Reform New Party, she said, "Other parties had clear demands. They wanted a female doctor and preferably someone in essential medical care," and added, "The Reform New Party was the only party that focused on my story, not me. At that time, the nomination management committee knew all the things I had advocated and called me."

She emphasized that alongside medical reform, the 22nd National Assembly should begin to consider the generation born between 2000 and 2010. Lee said, "There should be someone talking about the '0010' generation, from 0 to 19 years old, so that we can dream the longest future for our country," adding, "When we talk about these generations, we must consider sustainable development that encompasses all children to be born in the future."