Human Rights Commission: "Ministry of Health and Welfare Fails to Comply with Recommendation to Support Issuance Costs of Work Ability Certificates for Livelihood Benefit Recipients"

Ministry of Health and Welfare: "Unrestrained Applications Undermine Self-Sufficiency Projects"

The response from the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), which replied that "review is necessary" to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea's (NHRCK) recommendation to support the issuance costs of medical certificates for work ability evaluation of livelihood benefit recipients, has been judged as non-compliance with the NHRCK's recommendation.

Yonhap News

On the 16th, the NHRCK stated, "We recommended the MOHW to support the issuance costs of medical certificates for work ability evaluation of recipients under the National Basic Livelihood Security System, but the MOHW responded that 'review is necessary.' We have determined that this constitutes non-acceptance of the NHRCK's recommendation."

The NHRCK had recommended on February 26 to the Minister of Health and Welfare to support the issuance costs of medical certificates for work ability evaluation for livelihood benefit recipients and to simplify the procedure by having the National Pension Service directly access medical records with the consent of the recipients. Additionally, it recommended disclosing the specific reasons for the work ability evaluation results to the concerned parties.

Regarding the NHRCK's recommendation, the MOHW responded that supporting the issuance costs of medical certificates for work ability evaluation could lead to indiscriminate applications for work ability evaluations by livelihood benefit recipients, which might undermine the operation of self-support projects, and could raise fairness issues with recipients who do not receive support for issuance costs. Furthermore, the MOHW replied that improving the procedure to allow the National Pension Service to directly access medical records requires dedicated personnel and budget, thus necessitating careful review.

In response, the NHRCK judged at the Standing Committee meeting held on the 5th that the MOHW's response did not accept the NHRCK's recommendation. The NHRCK expressed regret that "the MOHW did not accept the NHRCK's recommendation to guarantee the rights of recipients to live a dignified life," and explained that "in accordance with Article 25, Paragraph 6 of the National Human Rights Commission Act, the related content will be made public."