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Members of the 114 regional branches of the company health insurance union went on strike for the third consecutive day Wednesday and decided to halt the depositing of some W280 billion in doctor's fees to the National Federation of Health Insurance (NFMI), which will mean that small clinics will not receive their monthly fees from the NFMI.

The labor union will temporarily suspend their strike on Friday and Saturday to allow non-union members and managing staff to return to work and prevent money transfers of each branch office's deposited diagnosis fees, the labor union and NFMI announced on Wednesday.

Each branch office of the company health insurance union nationwide deposits fees for small clinic doctors at the NFMI on the 15th of each month, and in April the amount is some W280 billion. Hospitals and clinics receive partial fees from the patient and the remainder from the medical insurance federation once a month, after charging for them. The amount that doctors receive from the federation makes up about 70% of their income. For small neighborhood clinics, the NFMI fee reaches between W10 million to W20 million a month.

Currently, the NFMI has nearly run out of its reserve for doctor's fees and if the labor union of the company health insurance does not wire the deposited money to the federation before Saturday, hospitals and doctors will not receive their fees. A source at the health and welfare ministry said the representatives of the company medical insurance union were asked to take urgent measures so that the fees can be paid, and said the labor union members will be indicted if they try to physically hamper the wiring of the deposited medical fees.