Former Director Jeon Byeong-wang, Who Led Medical School Expansion, Hired as Full-Time Review Committee Member
Predecessor Also a Retired Welfare Ministry Official, Following Same Path
"Hiring Non-Experts as Reviewers Threatens Public Health at HIRA"
The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) is recruiting a former first-grade official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, who recently led the government's policy to expand medical school quotas, as a full-time review committee member responsible for reviewing and evaluating medical benefits and determining fees. Criticism has arisen that HIRA, which operates on health insurance premiums paid by the public, is appointing a non-expert retired public official to a position that requires professional judgment in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, effectively serving as a reemployment gateway with an annual salary of 100 million won.
Jeon Byeong-wang, former Director of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, announced the results of a demand survey for increasing the admission quotas of 40 medical schools nationwide on November 21 last year at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the medical community on the 20th, HIRA notified Jeon Byeong-wang, former Director-General of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, of his successful application for the full-time review committee member position at the end of last month. Accordingly, Jeon submitted appointment-related documents to HIRA earlier this month and applied for employment review by the Government Ethics Committee for Public Officials. The scheduled appointment date is the 1st of next month.
Jeon, who graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in sociology and entered public service through the 28th administrative examination, held various positions at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, including Director of Health and Medical Policy Division, Director-General of Disability Policy Bureau, Director of Medical Security Review, and Director-General of Social Welfare Policy Office. During the Moon Jae-in administration, he served as a senior administrative officer in the Blue House's Health and Welfare Secretariat. Since October last year, he served as Director-General of Health and Medical Policy, overseeing the medical school quota expansion policy. After the confirmation of a 2,000-person increase in medical school quotas in February this year, when residents protested and left medical sites, he took charge as the first controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) for the doctors' collective action, declaring a strict response to illegal collective refusal of medical treatment and leading related policies.
However, he applied for honorary retirement at the end of June and then applied for the full-time review committee member position at HIRA, which was announced at that time. This raised concerns that it is inappropriate for a senior public official to move directly to a subordinate agency. A medical community official said, "The Director-General of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare is a position aiming for promotion to vice minister, so there were rumors that the sudden decision to retire was to avoid responsibility for the medical crisis," adding, "Since he is such an influential figure, HIRA is probably bringing him in partly voluntarily and partly involuntarily."
Exterior view of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province. [Photo by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service]
The HIRA Medical Review and Assessment Committee is a statutory committee that performs the review of medical benefit costs and the evaluation of the appropriateness of medical benefits under the 'National Health Insurance Act.' To conduct review and evaluation tasks fairly and professionally, it can appoint up to 90 full-time review committee members, including the chairman. Most members are current medical professionals such as doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and Korean medicine doctors.
Full-time review committee members directly review medical benefit costs and evaluate their appropriateness, while also improving and developing payment standards and review guidelines, and serving as experts linking appropriate medical care with clinical practice. They support policies related to procedures, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies in various committees and provide specialized medical education to staff in relevant fields. Therefore, clinical experience and related know-how, as well as the ability to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of various system operations from multiple perspectives, are required. It is an area where administrative officials have limitations in demonstrating expertise.
The term of office is two years, and members can work full-time (five days a week) or part-time (at least 16 hours per week). Full-time members earn more than 100 million won (base salary plus performance pay). Until 2016, the number of full-time review committee members was limited to 50, but HIRA nearly doubled the allowable number through legal amendments to respond to increasing analytical review tasks and strengthen evaluation expertise.
In particular, HIRA has also focused on recruiting political and social figures under the pretext of enhancing the agency's status and strengthening external cooperation. Before Jeon, for example, No Hong-in, former Director-General of Health and Medical Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare who retired honorably in September 2020, worked as a full-time review committee member at HIRA from 2021 to 2023. An internal HIRA source said, "No also worked more in an advisory capacity rather than typical review tasks and worked about three days a week despite being full-time," adding, "At that time, there was controversy over parachute appointments from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, but the role was not influential enough to provoke strong opposition."
No also underwent employment review by the Public Officials Ethics Committee within three years of retirement and was granted 'employment approval' as he was recognized under Article 34, Paragraph 3, Items 1 and 9 of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Ethics Act. According to this regulation, employment is permitted if it is necessary for national security reasons, strengthening national external competitiveness, or public interest, or if expertise is proven through relevant certifications or work experience. Jeon, with a similar background, is also highly likely to receive employment approval under the same exception.
However, concerns are emerging that if retired Ministry of Health and Welfare officials repeatedly rejoin HIRA immediately after retirement, it could negatively affect HIRA's management efficiency and entrench such practices in the future.
Professor Kim Tae-yoon of Hanyang University's Department of Public Administration pointed out, "If HIRA is a key organization aiming to contribute to public health and create a high-quality medical environment, it should have a high understanding of the industry and be capable of innovative decision-making. If former public officials routinely occupy positions, it inevitably becomes their own league." He added, "Recruiting non-experts from superior institutions to HIRA, which requires the highest level of expertise, could be an act that hinders the development of our medical industry and threatens public health."
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