KJC Korea
Journal Central

This study aims at analysing regional equity in utilization of National Health Insurance. The major findings of this research are as follows. First, this paper will present the analytical results of the regional equity in utilization of National Health Insurance. the CI of benefit cost and outpatient utilization show a positive number, but inpatient utilization show a negative number. This means the benefit cost and outpatient utilization of National Health Insurance are concentrated in urban areas and the inpatient utilization in rural areas. Second, the regional differences in health status are as follows. The CI of the death ratio, subjective health status cognition, the numbers and contraction of chronic disease display a negative number. Therefore, health needs in relation to four items are concentrated in rural area. On the other hand, the CI of health needs in the numbers and contraction of acute disease display a positive number. It means that health needs in relation to acute disease is concentrated among old people in urban areas. The health status of rural inhabitant are worse off than those living in urban areas, because they are much more exposed to serious and chronic disease. Third, the Le Grand index is calculated by the difference between the CI of National Health Insurance and the CI of health needs. Benefit costs and outpatient utilization show a positive number in the event considering death ratio, subjective health status cognition, the numbers and contraction of chronic disease. Also, the Le Grand index of inpatient utilization shows a positive number in the event considering death ratio, the numbers and contraction of chronic disease.

This article’s objective is to review the South Korea’s "National-Merit Person(NMP)" policy, which has been implemented for the purpose of inspiring patriotism and achieving national integration since the Armistice of the Korean War, and to suggest alternative policies for its reform. The results of the study indicate that the NMP policy of South Korea has not properly adapted itself to changing national and international environments and has not reflected people’s consciousness in a timely manner. This is due to the excessive political intervention in the process of determining the scope of policy target(entitlement) and compensation standards(benefits). In terms of the former, there are three major problems. First, South Korea has failed to build a social consensus on who is entitled to receive honorable treatments as a NMP. As a result, some people insist unreasonably that they deserve honorable treatments and benefits. Second, laws and regulations regarding NMP policies are not well coordinated and often incompatible since there has been a vicious circle of improvised enactment and revision of laws resulted from political influence seeking party interests. Third, administrative jargons used in the NMP policy have placed their focus excessively on values, thereby provoking social conflicts rather than generating national integration, and creating unnecessary tension between the government and the people. With regard to the latter, there are also three major critical issues. First, incessant complaints about compensation level and disputes over its fairness have been prevalent among NMPs because of ambiguous definitions of the character of compensation, entitlement and compensation rates. Second, allowances have been introduced to complement the compensation program but failed to fulfill their initial goal of guaranteeing the quality of life to a certain degree for NMPs taking their individual socio-economic conditions into account. Third, social affirmative actions that provide various assistances and benefits to NMPs in terms of education, employment, healthcare and public transportation have turned out to be the cause of ethical problems- i.e. too generous benefits and free riders. In conclusion, the current NMP policy of South Korea must be reformed as follows; First, the scope of NMP entitlement should be reorganized reflecting national sentiments so as to clearly specify who is entitled to the honorable treatments. Second, the administrative jargons should be replaced with more descriptive and functional ones to keep NMPs from demanding privileges excessively. Third, public skepticism toward the NMP policy should be changed. The policy has caused confusion among people because of a lack of clear definition distinguishing the object of respect and honor from the recipient of compensation. Fourth, compensation rates for NMPs have to be rescheduled properly so as to end the disputes over unfairness regarding how much money the State should give to a NMP to repay his/her sacrifice in a token of everlasting gratitude to them. Fifth and lastly, affirmative actions should reflect national sentiments and be revised to get rid of problems such as moral hazards of free riders resulted from excessively generous benefits.

The purpose of this study is to explore the legalization of care manager system in the Korean Long-Term Care Insurance Law through checking the problems of Japanese care manager system and the current care manager-concerned laws in Korea and Japan. The Korean Long-Term Care Insurance Law only explains the job descriptions of care manager without defining care managers. So meanings of a helping profession and unique jobs as care manager should be prescribed in the Law. Care managers would be better to be accredited by national qualification tests, and regulations of education and training, re-training should be prescribed for the professional ability. Besides, care managers' interventions and duties, penalties should be regulated. Contents of care plan should be prescribed, including definitions of care plans, service deliveries based on care plans. Furthermore, clientele's contract intention and the right to know also should be respected in the Law. Finally, the correction of the current care plan format is desired.

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the ethical grounds for long-term care services so as to assess the possibility of establishing a normative principled framework of long-term care services. First, from the perspective of social justice, the philosophical exploration enables us to find out the ethical issues around long-term care, which are generated from the intersection of levels of liberty and equality. This paper adopted Rawls's theory of justice and Sen's human capability approach as the guidelines to address the ethical issues around long-term care. In regard to setting up the ethical grounds for long-term care services, this paper examined Rawls's theory and Sen's approach on the two matters in dispute: the conception of human being as the image of an ideal citizen; and the concept of primary social goods that should be allocated universally. My discussion to search for the possibility of Rawls's theory as a policy-normative one is focused on his concept of primary goods. Sen's approach is an alternative perspective to help to assess this possibility. In doing this, we find that Rawls's theory of justice, through broadening the notion of opportunity that forms one of the primary goods, could provide the basis for establishing a normative principled framework of long-term care services.

The constitutional law is to some degree an open norm which is to be filled in accordance to the fact, value and their changes. This requires the interaction of the constitutional law with the social science. The latter furnishes the former with the materials which come out to be the constitutional norm. This is the very case in the welfare state principle. It is so because the welfare state principle gives in the positive constitutional law nothing about the concrete institutions necessary for it to be realized. This article aims to give some criterion on which the welfare state principle can be formed systematically and in accordance with the epochal challenge and response. It comprises; (1) the nature and function of the welfare state, (2) the origin and types of the welfare state, (3) the generalization of the welfare state, (4) historical development of the welfare state with its problems as well as the reaction upon them. This article tries to crystallize typical problems and solutions that can be observed in the each epoch. So is expected that some criterion achieved through the comparative and historical research offer some directions to our forming of the welfare state.