President Lee Jae-myung on the 16th ordered the National Health Insurance Service to designate a large number of special judicial police officers. The aim is to quickly block the so-called "fake diagnosis fees" problem of false or excessive billing and the leakage of health insurance finances caused by paper hospitals.
On this day at a briefing on the Ministry of Health and Welfare and its affiliated agencies held at the Government Sejong Convention Center, the president told Presidential Chief of Staff Kang Hoon-sik, "Designate as many special judicial police officers for the health insurance service as necessary."
The president asked National Health Insurance Service President Jeong Ki-seok, "Aren't there many cases where people are punished for submitting bogus claims for medical fees?" When Jeong appealed, "Yes. Because we don't have special judicial police, when we refer cases for investigation it takes an average of about 11 months," the president gave this instruction.
When asked about the needed scale of special judicial police, Jeong answered, "About 40 people are needed," and the president said, "The Justice Ministry is not making the designations, so have the presidential office take care of it and get it resolved."
The president urged, "Catch a lot of it clearly, including excessive treatment. It won't do if we designate them and still don't catch it."
The special judicial police system grants limited investigative authority to administrative officials to improve the efficiency of investigations into crimes in specialized fields. The health insurance service has reported that health insurance finances are leaking on the order of trillions due to excessive treatment at paper hospitals and has requested the introduction of special judicial police.
Meanwhile, the president also called for an inspection of the operating systems of private welfare organizations. Referring to recent reports of sexual assault within a disability group, the president said, "It's the same with any ministry, but many related private organizations are corrupt or violent, and this must be fundamentally resolved," adding, "In particular, because such problems are likely in the welfare sector, check whether related groups are democratically organized and operated transparently and fairly, and create a system."