A coalition campaigning against medical privatization and for universal healthcare holds a rally in front of the National Assembly, calling for expanded state funding for national health insurance. [Provided by the coalition]
A coalition campaigning against medical privatization and for universal healthcare holds a rally in front of the National Assembly, calling for expanded state funding for national health insurance. [Provided by the coalition]

A coalition campaigning against medical privatization and for universal healthcare urged Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun on Monday to immediately include in next year's budget President Lee Jae Myung's pledge to raise state funding for national health insurance to the statutory level of 20 percent.

The group argued that the government must normalize its responsibilities, given that it has long failed to meet its statutory obligation to provide state funding and has drawn on national health insurance reserves to finance policy programs.

In a statement released Monday, the coalition said, "Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun must stop making flimsy excuses and immediately reflect President Lee Jae Myung's promised 20 percent state funding for national health insurance in next year's budget."

The National Health Insurance Act and the National Health Promotion Act currently require the government to provide state funding equivalent to 20 percent of projected national health insurance premium revenue, combining contributions from the general account and the National Health Promotion Fund.

The coalition said the state funding requirement exists because workplace subscribers split premiums equally with their employers, while self-employed subscribers bear the full cost themselves. "Yet every administration has in fact provided only around 13 to 14 percent, and the statutory rate has never once been met," it said.

The statement follows remarks President Lee made at a meeting on regional, essential and public healthcare held at Cheong Wa Dae on Wednesday, July 22. When a participant pointed out that the government had not been fulfilling its statutory state-funding obligation, Lee said, "The criticism that we have not met our obligations is valid," adding, "I will try to correct that."

The coalition, however, took issue with comments Minister Park made at the same meeting, in which he cited the National Health Insurance Act's wording of "an amount equivalent to 20 percent." The group called this "the same logic that every past administration has repeatedly used to justify not meeting the statutory support rate," and insisted that the Ministry of Planning and Budget must reflect the president's pledge in the budget.

The coalition also called on the government to stop using national health insurance funds as a source of financing for healthcare policy. It said 8.62 trillion won ($5.88 billion) in health insurance reserves had been spent on emergency care systems during the medical community dispute, restructuring of tertiary hospitals, and support for essential medical services, and that funds used during the COVID-19 response must also be replenished from the state treasury.

The coalition further urged the National Assembly to abolish the sunset clause on state funding for national health insurance, making such support permanent. It also stressed that "before asking the public to shoulder higher premiums by warning that health insurance finances are running dry, the government must first fulfill its legal obligation to provide what the state is required to pay."

Meanwhile, the national health insurance surplus has been shrinking rapidly in recent years.

According to the National Health Insurance Service, the fiscal balance fell from a 4.1 trillion won surplus in 2023 to 1.7 trillion won in 2024 and 499.6 billion won last year. Health insurance benefit payments exceeded 100 trillion won for the first time last year, and the financial burden continues to grow as rising medical costs accompany South Korea's entry into a super-aged society.


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