Medical Association President: "1.6%, 1.9%... Is This What Yoon Thinks Life Is Worth?"

Im Hyun-taek, president of the Korea Medical Association (KMA), strongly criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol following the breakdown of the 2025 fee-for-service (酬價·medical service compensation) negotiations.

Im Hyun-taek, President of the Korean Medical Association, is attending the 'Press Conference on the Grounds and Process of Increasing Medical School Admission Quotas' held on the 13th at the Korean Medical Association in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The KMA pointed out that the fee increase rate proposed by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) was too low and warned that "all future responsibility lies with the government."

On the afternoon of the 1st, President Im wrote on his Facebook, "1.6%, 1.9% ? this is the value President Yoon Suk-yeol places on human lives. The lives of children, pregnant women, cancer patients, and the elderly."

The 1.6% and 1.9% are the fee increase rates proposed by the NHIS to the Korea Hospital Association (KHA) and the KMA, respectively, for next year. After the KHA and KMA rejected these proposals and the negotiations ultimately collapsed, the NHIS Finance Management Committee recommended to the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee (HIPDC), which finalizes the fees, that the fee increase rates for hospitals and clinics not exceed these levels.

Prior to this negotiation, President Im had argued that a 10% fee increase was necessary. At a press conference on the 16th of last month, he stated, "Our country's insurance fees, which started at about 50% of the cost, have remained around 80% of the cost for nearly half a century," and insisted, "Next year's fees must be increased by at least 10%, and thereafter promptly normalized to 100% of the cost."

Additionally, on the same day on Facebook, President Im wrote, "I want to live in a country run by normal people, not by those who drink every day and shout loudly."

This appears to be an indirect criticism of President Yoon, who on the 30th of last month attended a workshop where members of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) gathered for the first time since the opening of the 22nd National Assembly and offered beer. The day the workshop was held was also the day of the funeral for a trainee soldier who collapsed and died during military discipline training (Eolcharyeo).

Regarding this, on the 31st, President Im posted a photo of the workshop attended by President Yoon on Facebook, saying, "Did you really have to drink and revel on the day when a spirited person lost their life in defense of the country and departed this world forever?"

The KMA declared its refusal to negotiate fees on the same day after its precondition for a 10% fee increase and the withdrawal of the differential application of conversion factors by procedure type were not accepted. The differential application of conversion factors by procedure type means that the conversion factor, which is multiplied by the fee-for-service (medical fees determined by the type and amount of medical services), would be increased only for undervalued medical services such as essential care.

Until now, the conversion factor has been uniformly increased regardless of the type of procedure. At the nationwide candlelight rallies held simultaneously on the 30th of last month, opposing the increase in medical school admissions and warning of a "big fight in June," the KMA stated, "We strongly condemn the NHIS's unilateral negotiation attitude once again and clearly state that all responsibility for the ensuing medical chaos lies with the NHIS and government authorities."