South Korean medical groups oppose Emergency Medical Service Act changes

Medical professional organizations in South Korea are raising concerns regarding recent legislative changes and systemic issues affecting essential and emergency healthcare.

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) has expressed opposition to the proposed amendment to the Emergency Medical Service Act. Key criticisms include the removal of procedures to verify a hospital's capacity to accept patients before transfer, which shifts the burden of responsibility onto receiving hospitals. The KMA also warned that delegating patient severity assessment to paramedics could lead to medical errors for which hospitals are held liable. Furthermore, the KMA cautioned against the mandatory designation of institutions to accept severe emergency patients, arguing that such mandates must account for real-time availability of specialized personnel and surgical capabilities rather than just bed counts.

Separately, the Seoul Medical Association argued that the crisis in essential healthcare is not caused by non-reimbursable medical services, as some critics suggest. Instead, they identified low reimbursement rates and the high risk of legal liability in medical accidents as the primary drivers of physician shortages in critical fields like pediatrics, obstetrics, and emergency medicine. They urged the government to focus on ensuring appropriate medical fees and establishing legal protections for doctors rather than implementing uniform controls on non-reimbursable services.