September 20th, 2010.  Seoul.

The government will allow pharmaceutical firms to support overseas academic conferences here without restriction.

In a press interview on September 16, the health minister Chin Soo-hee said the ministry is considering allowing the possible donations of pharmaceutical firms to such conferences.

Chin also drew a clear line on for-profit hospitals issue. She said the ministry has agreed to the idea in principle, insisting profit-oriented hospitals will increase costs of medical goods and services, as well as threaten the current state-run healthcare system. But policymakers and medical professionals have been calling for the introduction, arguing it is the only way to improve medical services and enhance the competitiveness of the local healthcare industry.

The ministry will further lower health insurance benefits for treatment of minor ailments while increasing coverage for advanced illnesses, Chi said.

The original goal of the current system, which took effect in 1986, was to prevent patients from visiting hospitals for treatment of mild illnesses. But while costs have increased sharply in the two decades, patient contributions have hardly increased, resulting in a large gap between payments for severe and light illnesses.