New NHIC Governor Kang Cheonghee Declares "AI-Based Health and Welfare Platform" Initiative

Transitioning Health Insurance Toward Prevention and Care
Strengthening Personalized Health Management Through AI and Big Data
Advancing Management of Financial Leakages and Improper Claims

Kang Cheonghee, the new President of the National Health Insurance Service, declared 'Reboot Health Insurance' as his first official statement upon taking office, presenting innovation in health insurance centered on human dignity and the establishment of an AI-based national health and welfare platform as his core priorities.

Kang Cheonghee, President of the National Health Insurance Service, is delivering his inauguration speech at the inauguration ceremony held on the 20th at the headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province. National Health Insurance Service

On July 20, the National Health Insurance Service announced that it held an inauguration ceremony at its headquarters in Wonju, Gangwon Province for its 11th president, Kang Cheonghee.

President Kang is a medical expert and former thoracic surgeon who has served as Executive Vice President of the Korean Medical Association, Director of the Giheung-gu Public Health Center in Yongin, and President of the Korea Public Tissue Bank. In particular, he is recognized as the right person to lead organizational management and institutional innovation, drawing on his experience overseeing insurance benefit policies and operations as Executive Director of Benefits at the National Health Insurance Service.

In his inauguration speech that day, Kang emphasized, "The National Health Insurance Service exists to protect the dignity and humane life of the people," adding, "Human dignity must be both the starting point and the ultimate goal of all future innovation at the Service."

He identified key challenges for this era, including the hyper-aging society, the rise in chronic diseases, ensuring the sustainability of health insurance finances, and the medical revolution driven by AI, and declared a comprehensive innovation of the health insurance system.

President Kang stated, "We cannot secure the future with only the successes of the past," and continued, "It is time to go beyond merely responding to change and to redesign the future of health insurance." He further announced, "We will pursue 'Reboot Health Insurance' by redefining the purpose of health insurance and fundamentally innovating our services, organization, finances, and operational system to be centered on the people."

He also proposed expanding the role of health insurance from focusing solely on covering medical treatment costs to a life-cycle health security system that encompasses prevention, health management, and care. The plan is to evolve health insurance beyond supporting post-illness care to taking responsibility for disease prevention, maintaining health, and ensuring a healthy old age.

Kang also presented a vision to transform the National Health Insurance Service into a "people-centered health and welfare platform." He said, "For the public, health and welfare do not exist separately," and added, "We will build a national health and welfare platform that connects health insurance, long-term care insurance, and integrated community care

into a single, seamless system, so that people can receive the services they need in a timely manner without having to go from one agency to another."

Kang continued, "AI is not a choice, but an inevitable standard of our era," and pledged, "We will leverage world-class health insurance big data to provide personalized health management services, such as predicting disease risk in advance and detecting signs of health issues early." He also plans to deliver more valuable public services to the people through AI-based innovation, including more precise management of fiscal leakage and improper claims.

He added, "To ensure the sustainability of health insurance finances, we will enhance fairness in insurance contribution assessments, protect those in financial hardship who are unable to pay, reduce unnecessary expenditures, and strengthen support for necessary areas."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.