Mixed Medical Care Treatment and Provision of Public Medical Insurance in South Korea

Abstract

This paper examines the present situation of mixed medical care treatment in South Korea, and makes a contribution to the discussion about mixed medical care treatment in Japan. The South Korean government began to recognize mixed medical care treatment in 1977, which also marked the inception of the country’s public medical insurance system. Furthermore, the recognition of mixed medical care treatment has resulted in the expansion of medical services not covered by public medical insurance. This situation has expanded the market for real-loss type private medical insurance. Recognition of mixed medical care treatments has produced the following effects. First, the volume of excessive medical care treatment has increased as a result of the new incentives ; one example is juvenile thyroid gland cancer. Second, private insurance companies and medical institutions have generated increased profits, but the medical well-being of the public has worsened. Third, the change from public to private insurance has brought about inequality in access to medical care with regard to income, chronic disease and age. Fourth, the shift in medical care treatment toward a profit basis means that medical treatment has become motivated not by medical science but by profit-making.