Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok promised on the 25th to impose a 90% copayment rate on patients who exceed 120 days of outpatient care to address the health insurance deficit.
On this day, the candidate announced a pledge to strengthen the current system that imposes a 90% copayment rate on users exceeding 365 visits per year by three times as part of health insurance financial improvement measures.
He mentioned, "Since the system based on 365 visits was initiated in July 2024 until the end of the year, the effect of reducing financial leakage was only 4.3 billion won," adding, "The number of patients who receive outpatient treatment more than 120 times a year as of 2024 is about 352,000, and approximately 3.09 trillion won is provided to them through health insurance, depleting the health insurance finances."
The candidate also noted that he plans to strengthen the criteria for recognizing dependents of foreign health insurance subscribers from 6 months to 2 years to prevent foreign short-term subscribers from engaging in medical shopping, stating, "This will help prevent unnecessary overuse of medical services and alleviate the depletion of health insurance, securing sustainable health insurance finances."
A representative from the Reform Party's election committee stated, "To provide stable medical services to future generations in South Korea, we must limit overuse of medical services," adding, "We need to restore the financial stability of health insurance to ensure continuous medical services and strengthen the coverage for severe patients."