Rick, a carpenter in the USA, lost two fingers. He went to the doctor and was faced with an unexpectedly high price to repair the damage. He had to pay $12,000 to treat his ring finger and $60,000 for his middle finger. As a result, he saved only his ring finger.

This is one of the real stories illustrated in a documentary film entitled ‘Sicko’. If Rick had the money to pay for his treatment, he could have saved both fingers. Worse still, there are a number of people who can’t get any treatment because they don’t have enough money. Most doctors in the USA think patients as customers who pay money for their services. The doctors hospitalize patients purposely even when they don’t need to be, and force the use of expensive
medical equipment like MRIs or endoscopy machines regularly.

Koreans have a National Health Service and it is regulated to ensure obligatory treatment. On the other hand, there is no National Health Service in the USA and having a health insurance was not essential, so that people who didn’t have it, couldn’t get treated properly until the so-called ‘Obama Care’ was established. Forcing people to buy costly health foods, medicine, and medical supplies, and pay expensive fees for treatment can happen as a result of health care privatization.

Our country once had a plan for the privatization of health care, ten years ago. The Medical Services Act indicates, “A medical corporation must not seek profit.” Our hospitals are nonprofit hospitals. Hospital facilities and manpower developed through the use of government money. However, the government wanted to
change non-profit hospitals into profit generating ones. These facilities focus on economic development and job creation. Profit hospitals invest in various high quality services and the general welfare of their patients in these facilities.

They are anticipated to bring in millions of dollars a year. Businessmen, who like money, run these hospitals. When that happens, medical treatment is controlled by a company of investors instead of doctors, and this hampers the treatment decisions for each individual patient. Health care privatization was committed by
the in Commercial companies were given permission to set up facilities in hospitals last December. Public health unions staged massive demonstrations and strikes objecting to the concept of health care privatization.

13.4% of American citizens do not have health insurance. There are many people who simply do not go to the hospital because they have no money. Medical bills are extremely expensive. The Healthcare Company and Community Health Systems which are typical profit hospitals in the United States, net thousands of dollars from patient care. They handle directly medical equipment, drug prescriptions, functional cosmetics, spa, medical supplies, and a hotel. Doctors in this for-profit hospital force patients to come to heel not knowing anything. Surely, for the wealthy it’s easy to accept their recommended dishes and medicines no complaints, however for the poor, they are only able to look at the facility from outside the hospital gate.

The yearly sales of these profit hospitals are about 6.30 trillion won, a figure much higher than the sales of non-profit hospitals in Korea. The medical field in Korea has yet to make these changes, but once they do, it will only be a matter of time before we see similar problems to those experienced in the USA.

The Dankook Herald (DKH) interviewed Han Mi-jung, who is the vice chairman of the Korean Health and Medical Worker’s Union, to ask about health care privatization.
“A the government says that if health care privatization is pushed ahead, Korea could experience economic growth. However, it is a fact that this profit will not be for the benefit of the people. It is a money-making scheme for the benefit of the government or companies,” she said of her opinion against health care privatization.

▲ Doctors force expensive medical device.

“The government announced a comprehensive plan to revitalized investments. It seemed on the surface like a good policy for economic growth, but it included a plan for health care privatization. If health care privatization went off, doctors would treat patients for money instead of their lives. They will just focus on the method of treatment, rather than their illnesses. As a result, we have held three demonstrations to stop privatization and in the process gathered about 2,000,000 signatures against health care privatization. Despite these efforts, there has been no policy change from the government, so we need to do more to garner the
attention of people,” she said.

If health care privatization is brought forward, the commercialization of hospitals will soon follow. Profit companies will invest in subsidiary enterprises and the hospitals would suggest patients use those subsidiary enterprises. Then it may seem possible that patients could receive treatment conveniently, by using the variety treatment centres available. However, doctors can insist patients buy the products of affiliated companies. These profit hospitals will become general merchandise stores due to health care privatization.

People need to re-think plans for our national health service. The fees for treatments will rise and the incidences of over-treatment will increase due to health care privatization. People will have trouble getting treatment if they only have access to the National Health Service.

In the end, people will leave the National Health Service and change to private health insurance plans which guarantee greater benefits, provided you can afford to pay for it. If that happens, patients who are sick and don’t have enough money for private health care will lose hope because of their secondary treatment from lower benefits offered under the National Health Service. It is a problem that health care privatization uses human lives for profit.

Patients, specially seniors, who are subject to all kinds of temptations, will fall victim to the money making schemes of greedy doctors. It is the poor who will
always suffer the damage. The rich can have steady access to new medicines and health foods which doctors recommend. They easily pay for surgeries and outpatient medical costs. However, the poor cannot do anything. Our country is being suppressed and our people are being unfairly differentiated within a field of the medicine. Recently the government has put forward a plan to permit the establishment of commercial medical companies.

If we are unable to stop it, we need stricter regulations to protect the services we already have. We also need to inspect whether the companies adjure excessive treatments and the use of expensive medical devices. Patients should also be able to report unfair fees for consultations or whether a doctor forces a patient to use an affiliated company product. The government must listen to the voice of the patients. Our lives are irreplaceable. The government must pay close attention
to the evolution of health care privatization so that our lives may be used for no other purpose than our own.