Presidential candidates Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Lee Jun-seok of the New Reform Party (NRP) clashed during a presidential debate held 10 days before the election over how to improve the financial efficiency of the national health insurance system.
Kim Moon-soo, the People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate, took a shot at Lee Jae-myung, who was helicoptered to Seoul National University Hospital from Pusan National University Hospital following a knife attack in January 2024.
At the second debate for the 21st presidential election candidates hosted by the National Election Broadcasting and Debate Commission on Friday, NRP candidate Lee, who was given the right to ask questions, asked DPK candidate Lee about the latter’s policy pledge to increase the coverage of caregiving expenses.
“Currently, health insurance finances are about 97 trillion won ($71 billion) a year, and by 2033, a deficit of nearly 30 trillion won is expected,” the NRP candidate said. “If you add a 15 trillion won caregiving benefit to that, how will you finance it?”
DPK candidate Lee replied, “We need to curb excessive medical shopping and reduce frequent hospital visits by mildly ill patients. We can save a lot of money if we control unnecessary spending.”
However, the NRP candidate continued his criticism. “The amount of health insurance funding that can be reduced by medical shopping is 2 trillion to 3 trillion won,” he said. “(Medical shopping) has already been revised, and the co-payment rate has risen to 90 percent. Are there any realistic financial measures other than this?” he pointed out.
The DPK candidate responded, “The 15 trillion won (for caregiving benefits) is your claim. I just said I would cut some of it and do it within the necessary and possible scope.”
When it was time for the DPK candidate’s question, the offense and defense switched. Lee Jae-myung asked Lee Jun-seok, “How would you reduce healthcare costs?”
The younger Lee replied, “We need to reduce medical benefits that have not been proven effective. We also need to reduce the excessive increase in medical expenses due to MERS and Covid-19. For example, through (ex-President) Moon Jae-in’s care, Korea has become the country with the highest number of MRIs. Care costs are more important, so I will honestly talk to the people about cuts.”
The NRP candidate went on to say, “This is what we need to do, but Lee Jae-myung is hesitant to talk about cuts and only says, ‘I’ll give you more’ — which is like Hugo Chavez,” he said, referring to the populist Venezuelan leader.
PPP candidate Kim, when asked how he would save money on health insurance, said he would come up with a field-oriented alternative through discussions with medical experts.
“There are some excessive and loose allowances for foreigners who shop for healthcare, including some Korean-Chinese people,” Kim said. “I will check these areas one by one to reduce wastefulness. I will check these areas with medical professionals and related government officials to hear where waste occurs.”
Candidate Kim sniped at the ‘helicopter transfer’ of DPK’s Lee for ‘ignoring the region’; Lee apologized to medical staff who ‘felt deprived and marginalized’
Kim pointed out that Lee Jae-myung is not qualified to discuss his pledge to strengthen public healthcare and develop regional balance, pointing to the incident of helicopter transfer from Pusan National University Hospital to Seoul National University Hospital during the “Busan attack.”
“The Pusan National University Hospital Regional Trauma Center is the No. 1 trauma center in the country, so was Lee transferred to Seoul National University Hospital?” Kim asked for an explanation, saying, “It’s strange that Lee didn’t even go to Seongnam Medical Center, which he boasts as his biggest accomplishment.”
On Jan. 2, 2024, Lee was stabbed in the neck by a weapon wielded by an attacker while traveling after inspecting the construction site of Gadeokdo New Airport in Gangseo-gu, Busan. The candidate was immediately taken to the Pusan National University Hospital Regional Trauma Center. However, he did not undergo surgery there but was moved to Seoul National University Hospital using a 119 helicopter after first aid.
“I don’t think Seongnam Medical Center had anyone who could perform vascular surgery, although I couldn’t confirm it,” Lee Jae-myung said. “I went to Seoul National University Hospital because I needed to be hospitalized for a long time, so my family wanted me to move near Seoul, and the medical staff at the Pusan National University Hospital also judged I should be transferred to Seoul. I was injured and sick at the time, so I didn’t know much about it.”
Kim then asked, “Was Seongnam Medical Center’s capacity insufficient?” Lee replied, “Seongnam Medical Center is a hospital that focuses on public healthcare, which general hospitals do not do, so we were unable to determine whether it could perform vascular surgery at the time.”
Lee apologized to the people of Busan and the local medical professionals, who might have felt deprived and alienated by the helicopter transfer.
Kim did not budge, however. “Did you have to use a helicopter for the transfer? If it was a serious and urgent situation, wouldn’t it be appropriate to stay in Busan? Even though Pusan National University Hospital is the No. 1 hospital in the country, you say you don’t like it and visit your family. Does that mean all those injured in the provinces can take a helicopter to Seoul, where their families are? Even if you talk about regional balance a hundred times, your behavior seems disrespectful of the region.”
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