Under the National Health Insurance Act (hereinafter, the “Act”), a medical care institution may make a claim to the National Health Insurance Public Corporation for the cost of medical care benefits when providing diagnosis or examinations for di...
Under the National Health Insurance Act (hereinafter, the “Act”), a medical care institution may make a claim to the National Health Insurance Public Corporation for the cost of medical care benefits when providing diagnosis or examinations for diseases, injuries, childbirths etc. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (hereinafter, the “Ministry”) has issued a guideline under which the ’medical care benefit’ and the ‘relative value point of each medical care benefit’ would be assessed for purposes of calculating the costs for medical care benefits (hereinafter, the “Guidelines”). As the Guidelines enable direct calculation of specific costs for medical benefits without requiring any enforcement procedures, it can thus be said that the Guideline directly influence the rights and duties of citizens, which is a legal effect. Thus, such Guideline would qualify as an administrative disposition that may be subject to administrative appeal.
In the judgment at hand, an administrative appeal was sought to cancel a disposition based on the Guideline. Here, standing to bring a claim was recognized for individual doctors collectively forming medical care institutions(e.g. hospitals and clinics), whereas standing was denied for the Korean Medical Association (hereinafter, the “Association”) on the basis that they lacked direct legal relationship to medical care benefits or claim and issuance of medical care benefit costs, as provided under the Act.
However, in light of the fact that the Guideline issued by the Ministry recognizes the right of pharmaceutical communities (e.g. the Association) along with the right of medical care institutions to apply for readjustment of relative value points of medical care benefit, it would be difficult to state that the Association has no interest in changes of medical care benefit costs. It is also questionable whether the court would have come to the same conclusion had the complaint been filed by the Association alone without the individual doctors.