Ministry of Health and Welfare to Compensate Last Year's Losses
"Reflecting the Value of Essential Medical Care"
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 27th that 10 medical institutions have applied to participate in the post-compensation project for high-risk maternal and neonatal integrated treatment centers.
Integrated treatment centers are institutions designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare that meet the facility and personnel standards required for specialized care of high-risk mothers and newborns.
The "Post-Compensation for High-Risk Maternal and Neonatal Integrated Treatment Centers" project aims to strengthen the medical infrastructure related to high-risk mothers and newborns and to compensate for unavoidable medical losses incurred during the treatment process, ensuring the stable provision of high-quality medical services.
The new payment system of post-compensation has already been applied to children's public specialized treatment centers since January 1, 2023, supporting approximately 56.4 billion KRW in losses in the first year (9 centers). This time, the scope is expanded to include high-risk maternal and neonatal integrated treatment centers.
To maintain essential medical infrastructure with declining demand, such as pediatrics and obstetrics, the government has continuously increased related fees as well as provided post-compensation for medical losses, and plans to continue improving the system through public feedback.
This post-compensation for high-risk maternal and neonatal integrated treatment centers is being promoted ahead of the full-scale pilot project next year, with a total of 11 institutions, including Ilsan Hospital of the National Health Insurance Service, which cooperated in developing the post-compensation model, included in the evaluation.
The government will select the final participating institutions by evaluating the status of securing essential personnel such as obstetric specialists and treatment performance. Selected institutions are expected to receive compensation for losses incurred over the past year within this year.
Lee Jung-kyu, Director of the Health Insurance Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "Post-compensation is a measure to properly reflect the value of essential medical care. We will support medical institutions to focus on investing in essential medical care and ensure that high-risk mothers and newborns can safely use the strengthened infrastructure."
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