On the 11th, the government officially launched the prime minister-led "Medical Innovation Committee" to respond to crises in regional and essential care and to strengthen the public nature and sustainability of the health care system.
The committee will perform three roles: ▲ preparing an innovation strategy to resolve structural problems in the health care system ▲ reviewing and advising on key policies related to medical innovation ▲ presenting social discussions and alternatives for contentious issues.
The committee, composed of 30 members in total, includes the Chairperson and vice chairperson nominated by the prime minister, 27 civilian members, and 3 government Commissioners (Ministers of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare). The explanation is that it enhanced representativeness and diversity by broadly including not only health care providers but also patients, consumers, civil society, regions, young people, labor unions, and employer groups.
Jeong Ki-hyun, former head of the National Medical Center (NMC), serves as Chairperson. A pediatrician, Jeong is a public health care expert who ran regional pediatric and maternity medical institutions for a long time in Suncheon, South Jeolla. Jeong also played a central role in the COVID-19 response. Yeo Jun-sung, former presidential secretary for social policy, was appointed vice chairperson.
◇"Thirty years of 'power struggles' between doctors and the government… medical policies that only increased social expense"
At the first meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul on the 11th, the Chairperson Jeong said in opening remarks, "Korea is facing a crisis in which the very foundation of life is collapsing as rapid aging and population decline combine with regional issues." Jeong emphasized, "Among them, the most immediate and palpable threat is health care."
In particular, regarding the prolonged conflict between the medical community and the government, Jeong noted, "For nearly 30 years, our society has crafted health care policies as stopgap measures, and when conflicts arose in the process, we responded by demonizing the other side or suppressing it with force. As a result, only the social expense grew."
Jeong said, "Now we must ask not 'who was at fault,' but 'why has the conflict not been resolved and continued to repeat,'" adding, "We need to look back on whether there were structural limits in the policy decision-making process."
Jeong also explained, "To keep conflicts from amplifying into harm to the public, the state must set principles and goals and mediate interests based on objective data," adding, "The launch of this committee reflects the new government's will that the state will finally manage the system and fulfill its responsibility."
As principles for discussion, Jeong presented: ▲ a "people-centered, three-party-centered" perspective, not just the government and the medical community ▲ revitalizing discussions from a regional perspective ▲ clarifying the process of solving agendas, problems, and tasks.
Chairperson Jeong said, "Korean health care has world-class capabilities, but it has not had sufficient assets of trust to enable sustainable development," adding, "Now, rather than immediate results, we must reset the direction of 'where we are going' and build social consensus."
◇Operating a citizen panel and an online communication platform… agendas to be finalized by Mar.
At the meeting, participants discussed the committee's composition and operation plan, plans to strengthen public participation such as a citizen panel, and the direction for reviewing medical innovation agendas.
The committee will hold regular monthly meetings and, if necessary, form expert committees and subcommittees to conduct in-depth reviews. It plans to transparently disclose the entire discussion process, including agendas and minutes, and to gather on-the-ground opinions through forums, public hearings, and site visits.
In particular, to expand public participation in discussions on medical innovation, the government plans to operate a "medical innovation citizen panel" and an online platform tentatively named "Health Care for All the People."
The citizen panel will select the agendas to be handled by the committee and, after sufficient discussion of topics requiring public deliberation, prepare recommendations. It will be composed of 100 to 300 people, and to ensure the fairness of the procedures, a separate "citizen panel steering committee" made up of public deliberation experts will be established.
The online platform will serve as a channel where the public can freely participate and communicate, including disclosing the committee's progress and receiving policy proposals.
The agendas will be discussed around the broad frameworks of "strengthening regional, essential, and public health care" and "meeting medical demand in a super-aged society and securing sustainability," and will be finalized after workshops of civilian members and deliberation procedures by the citizen panel.
By Mar. next year, the committee plans to finalize the agendas and detailed plans through overall workshops and citizen panel deliberations and complete the formation of expert committees by field. In the first half of next year, it will focus on health care system innovation agendas related to strengthening regional, essential, and public health care, and in the second half, it will address strategies to respond to a super-aged society, such as securing fiscal sustainability.
The second meeting will be held in Jan. next year, and reviews and advice will be conducted on road maps for strengthening regional, essential, and public health care.