"Child Benefits to General Account Instead of Future Response Fund"... Health and Welfare Committee Votes to Restore Funding

Welfare Committee: "The budget should, of course, be transferred to the general account"

The National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee opposed the government’s budget plan to fund next year’s Child Basic Allowance through the Future Response Fund.

A scene from the Health and Welfare Committee plenary session last September. Yonhap News.

On November 13, the committee held a plenary meeting at the National Assembly and voted to include an accompanying opinion on the Future Response Fund management plan in its preliminary review report on next year’s budget proposal and fund management plan for the Ministry of Health and Welfare. After discussions by the Budget and Accounts Review Subcommittee from the previous day through the early hours of November 13, the committee reached a conclusion by agreement between the ruling and opposition parties.

The accompanying opinion states: "The Ministry of Health and Welfare shall increase benefits to support childbirth and child-rearing for children born from the first half of 2027, and consult with the fiscal authorities to devise a plan to restore to the general account the Future Response Fund's 2027 Child Basic Allowance program and childbirth support grant program."

It also states: "The Ministry shall increase the Future Response Fund's budget for expanding regional, essential and public healthcare infrastructure, investing in the commercialization of gene therapy technologies, and establishing a foundation to promote patient treatment. It shall also consult with the fiscal authorities to devise a plan to transfer these programs to the general account, along with the newly budgeted program to expand the use of physical AI-based care robots in the field and establish the necessary infrastructure."

The committee also called on the Ministry to revise the age eligibility exception in Article 2 of the supplementary provisions of the Child Benefit Act (Act No. 21489), so that child benefits are paid to all children under the age of 13 starting in January 2027. It further called on the Ministry to "consult with the fiscal authorities to devise a plan for providing child-rearing support benefits that enhances fiscal sustainability."

It remains unclear whether the government will comply. An official from the committee said, "Although members of both the ruling and opposition parties raised the issue of the Child Basic Allowance, the government is highly likely to disregard the standing committee's opinion when the matter goes to the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts," adding, "The budget should, of course, be transferred to the general account."

Meanwhile, the committee sent the budgets under its jurisdiction, including those for the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, to the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts after increasing them by approximately 8.7657 trillion won compared with the government's original proposal. The fund management plan, including the National Pension Fund, was increased by approximately 311.9 billion won from the original proposal.

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