A for-profit hospital is an investor-owned hospital, and the investor wants to earn revenue from the hospital. Recently, the government tried to establish for-profit hospitals in Songdo. However, many people are opposed to building it, while other people agree.
pro
Recently, medical technology and machines have improved and the number of hospitals has been increasing. Existing hospitals are mostly non-profit hospitals. That is to say, revenue should be invested back into the hospital. Current hospitals have to treat patients who are not helpful for earning money. However, this situation has many demerits and there are many advantages to establishing for-profit hospitals.

First of all, the quality of medical services will be improved. Until now, non-profit hospitals could not invest lots of money in medical technology due to insufficient revenue. A member of a global private equity firm claimed in the Korea Herald, “The real issue in Korea is lack of capital … Without capital, it is very difficult to have a high-quality service.” If for-profit hospitals are established, investment in medical services can increase. Also, advanced medical systems and technology will be developed and introduced to upgrade medical service quality.

Second, hospitals can attract foreign patients and improve medical tourism. Establishing a hospital for profit keeps pace with the global trend of the medical services market. Countries like the USA, Singapore, and Thailand have many for-profit hospitals. Thailand succeeded in developing for-profit hospitals by concentrating on nursing for the aged in high-income countries. In 2005, the number of foreign patients who came to Thai hospitals was about 1,280,000 people and they spent almost 8.9 billion dollars. Like Thailand, establishing for-profit hospitals can improve medical tourism.

Lastly, establishing for-profit hospitals can make many jobs in the medical industry and various industries related to medicine. By introducing for-profit hospitals, medical machines and various medicines will be developed due to competitiveness. Besides the medical sector, other industries related to medical treatment will need many jobs, for instance, the IT industry. According to the Korea Economic Institute, 180,000 job openings will be created when for-profit hospitals are established.

If for-profit hospitals are established, competitiveness among hospitals will increase, so the quality of medical services and technology will be improved. Due to medical tourism, foreigners spending will increase. Furthermore, many jobs in the medical industry and other related industries will be created. Because of these advantages, I agree with establishing for-profit hospitals.



con

Recently, for-profit hospitals were introduced in Songdo Free Economic Zone in Incheon, and Jeju-do also is pushing forward with the establishment of for-profit hospitals. Last June, the legal basis on which for-profit hospitals are built in Free Economic Zones was established. For-profit hospitals are literally set up to seek a profit. These for-profit hospitals can cause many problems.

First, the introduction of for-profit hospitals increases medical expenses. In 2005, New York Presbyterian Hospital attempted to enter Songdo and suggested getting more than 3 times domestic health coverage. Like this, the health costs of for-profit hospitals will be expensive. Another problem is that the high health costs of for-profit hospitals move to non-profit hospitals. In the United States, health costs in states or towns where for-profit hospitals were introduced were also expensive in non-profit hospitals.

Second, a polarization of medical services will happen. If for-profit hospitals raise medical costs because of the pursuit of profits, the medical expenses that patients pay will rise. According to the Hankyoreh newspaper, if for-profit hospitals are permitted, only rich people can afford their high health costs. On the other hand, poor people or the middle class can’t afford high health costs.

Third, private health insurance will dominate the health insurance system. Because the benefits of National Health Insurance are not applied to for-profit hospitals, the health rights of the public will fall. For example, because there isn’t national health insurance in the United States, many Americans can’t receive health insurance. Private health insurance dominates the medical insurance system, and only people who can afford high health coverage can join private health insurance. If the health insurance system is put into a market economy, poor people who cannot afford health coverage won’t receive proper medical services.

There are many problems caused by the introduction of for-profit hospitals such as a rise in medical expenses, the dominance of private health insurance and a polarization of medical services. According to the law, the state has to provide all people with medical services and has to manage National Health Insurance. Therefore, the introduction of for-profit hospitals should be stopped.