Healthcare in South Korea

For general health issues, see Health in South Korea.
An ambulance in front of the National Medical Center in Seoul

Healthcare in South Korea is universal, although a significant portion of healthcare is privately funded. South Korea's healthcare system is based on the National Health Insurance Service, a public health insurance program run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to which South Koreans of sufficient income must pay contributions in order to insure themselves and their dependants, and the Medical Aid Program, a social welfare program run by the central government and local governments to insure those unable to pay National Health Insurance contributions. In 2015, South Korea ranked first in the OECD for healthcare access.[1] Satisfaction of healthcare has been consistently among the highest in the world – South Korea was rated as the second most efficient healthcare system by Bloomberg.[2][3] Health insurance in South Korea is single-payer system.[4] The introduction of health insurance resulted in a significant surge in the utilization of healthcare services. Healthcare providers are overburdened by government taking advantage of them.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ "Health at a Glance 2015 | READ online". OECD iLibrary.
  2. ^ "Health Care Index by Country 2020 Mid-Year". www.numbeo.com.
  3. ^ Du, Lisa; Lu, Wei (September 29, 2016). "U.S. Health-Care System Ranks as One of the Least-Efficient". Bloomberg – via www.bloomberg.com.
  4. ^ Kwon, Soonman (2003). "Healthcare financing reform and the new single-payer system in the Republic of Korea: social solidarity or efficiency?". International Social Security Review. 56: 75–94. doi:10.1111/1468-246X.00150. S2CID 154974799.
  5. ^ Kim, Hyun Ah; Jung, Sung Hoon; Park, In Young; Kang, Seong Hun (1 September 2020). "Hourly wages of physicians within medical fees based on the Korean relative value unit system". The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine. 35 (5): 1238–1244. doi:10.3904/kjim.2018.452. PMC 7487311. PMID 31870135.
  6. ^ Jack, Andrew (24 June 2015). "Why the panic? South Korea's MERS response questioned". BMJ. 350: h3403. doi:10.1136/bmj.h3403. ISSN 1756-1833. PMID 26108610. S2CID 38833740.
  7. ^ Lee, Wang Jung (1 January 2004). "What Drove Korean Doctors into the Streets?". AMA Journal of Ethics. 6 (1): 37–40. doi:10.1001/virtualmentor.2004.6.1.msoc1-0401. PMID 23260071.