편집자 주     본지에서는 전세계 외국인 독자들을 대상으로 한국의 역사와 문화를 정확하게 소개하기 위해 김정기 변호사의 칼럼을 영문판으로 연재를 시작합니다.

한국의 역사와 문화에 관심있는 전 세계인들에게 도움이 되길 바랍니다.

한국어 독자들은 한국어로 번역된 화면이 보이므로 반드시 사이트 상단에서 원문보기로 설정하셔야 영문판으로 보실수 있습니다.

 

 

☆김정기 총장 주요 약력☆
 
● 학력
- 뉴욕주립대학교(StonyBrook) 정치학과 수석졸업
- 마케트대학교(Marquette) 로스쿨 법학박사
- 하버드대학교(Harvard) 케네디스쿨 최고위과정
- 베이징대학교(Peking) 북한학 연구학자

 
● 경력
- 제8대 주상하이 대한민국 총영사(13등급 대사)
- 2010 상하이엑스포 대한민국관 정부대표
- 아시아태평양지방정부네트워크(CityNet) 사무국 대표
- 세계스마트시티기구(WeGO) 사무국 사무총장
- 밀워키지방법원 재판연구원 
- 법무법인 대륙아주 중국 총괄 미국변호사
- 난징대학교 국제경제연구소 객좌교수
- 베이징대학교 동방학연구원 연구교수
- 국민대학교 정치대학원 특임교수
- 동국대학교 경영전문대학원 석좌교수
- 숭실사이버대학교 초대 총장

 
● 저서
- 대학생을 위한 거로영어연구[전10권](거로출판사)
- 나는 1%의 가능성에 도전한다(조선일보사)
- 한국형 협상의 법칙(청년정신사)
- 대한민국과 세계 이야기(도서출판 책미듬)

(NewsKorea=Seoul) Digital News Team = Korea Story 27 - <Society and Welfare 3  by Atty Jeong-kee Kim>

● True medical reform is needed to protect public health.

As the saying goes, "A sound mind in a sound body," health is crucial for human beings to function properly. Everyone strives to maintain their health through diet, exercise, and other means, but various adult diseases due to aging, as well as unexpected diseases like the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and sudden accidents often threaten our health.

When people seek medical care due to diseases or injuries, the medical costs are often substantial. Especially for severe cases like cancer, rare diseases, or serious conditions requiring surgery, the costs can be extraordinarily high. Low-income individuals may find it difficult to bear these immense medical expenses, leading some to forgo treatment. There are also those who, while performing noble deeds like disaster rescue, end up facing injuries or even sacrifice. We cannot expect them to bear their own medical costs. In such cases, the state should bear a significant portion of the treatment costs to protect the health of its citizens.

The national health insurance system can be said to have many advantages as a system to secure the people's right to health. Nevertheless, several problems are pointed out in the process of operating this system. For example, disputes between regions (by occupation and field) of medical personnel are not a stage of compromise, but are causing social conflict. The territorial dispute between traditional doctors and oriental medicine doctors shows no signs of being resolved. Add to this the recent confrontation between doctors and nurses, and if an appropriate compromise is not urgently prepared, the damage will fall squarely on the people.

In addition, there are many areas that need improvement. First, there is the case of foreigners, which is often controversial. Foreigners residing in Korea can also subscribe to national health insurance if they meet conditions such as period of stay and qualifications for stay. However, the number of cases of abuse of these medical benefits is increasing, which is becoming a problem. The finances of the National Health Insurance are worsening due to free riding on health insurance and health insurance ‘run-and-run’. If a foreigner lives in the country or stays for a long period of time for work or study, he or she receives the same benefits from national health insurance as Korean citizens. Moreover, the same benefits apply to an employed subscriber's family members as dependents. By abusing the system that is favorable to them, they bring their foreign family members into the country, receive treatment through health insurance, and then send them back home. In particular, there are many cases where family members suffering from chronic diseases that require high treatment costs or incurable diseases that are difficult to treat in their own country are treated for a long period of time at domestic medical facilities, incurring enormous costs. It is known that such cases are especially common among Chinese people. Thus, the term ‘medical shopping’ was coined. A detailed review of conditions for foreign dependents who do not reside in Korea is necessary. 

Domestic issues are also far from simple. Excessive medical visits by the elderly result in high medical expenses. Additionally, the so-called “nylon patients” are also well-known. For example, in cases of traffic accident injuries, some patients continue to stay in the hospital under the pretext of lingering aftereffects even after their treatment has been completed. Hospitals are said to turn a blind eye to these practices to maintain their revenue. Traditional Korean medicine hospitals, in particular, are known to rely heavily on fake patients from traffic accidents as a major source of income. Moreover, there are numerous cases of hospitals engaging in over-treatment, unnecessary surgeries, and non-covered drug treatments to increase revenue. Such fraudulent claims for medical expenses lead to a significant drain on valuable health insurance funds, which is a national loss.

During the previous Moon Jae-in administration, the so-called “Moon Jae-in Care” policy was implemented under the pretext of strengthening health insurance coverage. However, the sudden expansion of coverage for various rare diseases, MRI, CT, and ultrasound scans led to rampant abuse, pushing the health insurance fund to the brink of bankruptcy. In conclusion, a thorough review and improvement of over-treatment and fraudulent claims are necessary.

Additionally, the shortage of medical personnel is also becoming a problem. In particular, the shortage and operation of emergency rooms, and the shortage of pediatrics and surgery are becoming social problems. Measures to expand medical schools must be evaluated calmly from a quantitative perspective, and in line with the problem of biased medical school entrance exams, national support and promotion measures for basic natural sciences must be implemented as soon as possible.

There are also problems with medical benefits for low-income groups. The structure should be designed so that low-income and socially vulnerable groups receive as many medical benefits as possible. The selection process should not be overly complicated; in other words, it should be simplified. The more complex the procedures, the higher the management costs, which constitutes a typical case of wasting taxpayer-funded budgets.

☆ Author:  Atty Jeong-kee Kim ☆

● Education
- Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, State University of New York at Stony Brook
-  Doctor of Jurisprudence, Marquette University Law School
- Senior Executive Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
- Research Scholar in North Korean Studies, Peking University

● Experience
- Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Shanghai
- Commissioner General for the Korean Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo
- CEO, Asia-Pacific Local Government Network for Economic and Social Development (CityNet)
- Secretary General, World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization(WeGO)
- Law Clerk, Milwaukee Circuit Court, USA
- Senior Attorney-at-Law, Dr & Aju LLC
- Distinguished Visiting Professor, World Economy Research Institute, Nanjing University
- Research Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies, Peking University
- Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Political Science, Kookmin University
- Chair Professor, Graduate School of Business, Dongguk University
- First President of Soongsil Cyber University

● Publications
- Georo English Studies Series for College Students [10 volumes] (Georo Publishing)
- I Challenge the Possibility of One Percent (Chosun Ilbo)
- The Art of Negotiation (Cheongnyonneongsin Publishing)
- Korea and the World (Chekmidum Publishing)