The nation’s largest doctors’ group said Friday that it is dropping a plan to strike, scheduled to begin from Sunday, in protest against the government’s new medical service pricing plan.
Roh Hwan-kyu, head of the Korean Medical Association, said his organization has tentatively accepted the diagnosis-related group pricing system, giving a green light to the program that is scheduled to come into effect from Sunday. Roh reportedly met with Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the ruling Saenuri Party and others who promised that the party will push for improvements in the state health insurance program in the future.
Under the DRG system, patients with cataracts, ruptured or swollen tonsils, hemorrhoids or appendicitis, or who undergo a caesarian section or hysterectomy will be classified into 312 groups according to the severity of the illness or the place of treatment. Those in the same group will be charged the same price.
Doctors from the departments of surgery, obstetrics, ear-nose-and-throat and ophthalmology have threatened to refuse surgeries and operations for a week from July 1 in protest against the price-fixing plan feared to cut about 21 percent of their income.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that doctors’ income will be secured. It also said those participating in the class action may face prosecution since medical field is designated as one of the national staple industries.
