Home | Databases | WorldLII | Search | Feedback National Human Rights Commission of Korea - Complaint Summaries

Opinion on the Partial Amendment to the Healthcare Act [2008] KRNHRC 25 (10 June 2008)

On June 10, 2008, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs announced that
it prepared a partial amendment to the Healthcare Act, which would allow Korean
healthcare providers to attract and treat foreign patients from abroad.
The Commission found that if foreign patients were allowed to receive medical
treatment in Korea, the current healthcare service system would discriminate against the
insured of the National Health Insurance and their dependents, and reduce the access of the
disadvantaged to quality healthcare service, leading to discrimination in healthcare service
based on economic status.

Therefore, the Commission sent its opinion to the Ministry for Health, Welfare and
Family Affairs that the current system to prohibit introduction, attraction, and
recommendation of foreign patients should be maintained in order to protect Koreans' right
to healthcare and prevent discrimination in healthcare service based on economic status.
Even though the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs submitted the
proposed revision that did not reflected the opinion of the Commission, the National
Assembly revised the Healthcare Act to allow medical treatment of foreign patients only
under strict conditions.