The amendment to the Basic Health and Medical Law (Medical Workforce Calculation Act), which requires the government-affiliated Health and Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Calculation Committee to deliberate on the scale of necessary healthcare personnel such as doctors, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 2nd.
The Medical Workforce Calculation Act was passed in the plenary session of the National Assembly with 247 votes in favor, 11 against, and 8 abstentions out of 266 members present.
The amendment establishes the Health and Medical Workforce Supply and Demand Calculation Committee under the Minister of Health and Welfare, and stipulates that the existing Health and Medical Policy Review Committee must respect the calculation results of the Supply and Demand Calculation Committee when deliberating on the training scale for each type of healthcare personnel, with the Minister of Health and Welfare reflecting the deliberation results in discussions with the Minister of Education.
The Calculation Committee, as a deliberative body, may present opinions on medical school quotas and doctor personnel, and is to operate independently from the government. To this end, commissioners of the Supply and Demand Calculation Committee will be appointed from experts recommended by representative organizations of healthcare providers, user representative groups, and relevant academia, ensuring that the majority of the recommended members are from the provider representative organizations, and the chairperson will be elected from the academic recommended members.
The amendment will take effect immediately upon government announcement. However, the review of the supply and demand calculation for medical personnel and training scale will apply only to medical personnel after the 2027 academic year.
Kang Seon-woo, the opposition party secretary of the Welfare Committee and a member of the Democratic Party, explained before the vote on the bill, "This is a bill that institutionalizes minimum safety devices to ensure independence, expertise, and transparency in estimating the scale of healthcare personnel, while providing scientific evidence and procedural legitimacy as collateral."
"I have made the acceptance of the medical community the top priority with the tiny hope that it could be the key to resolving the medical crisis," he continued, "The Healthcare Workforce Supply and Demand Calculation Committee must operate to ensure a predictable supply of medical personnel, and I earnestly request that the medical community swiftly recommends experts."