Policy Fund Financing, Credit Guarantees, Technology Development, and More to Be Supported… Implementation Scheduled for March 2027

As medical corporations are legally included within the scope of "Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)," significant changes are expected in the operating conditions of hospitals on the ground.

This opens the door for them to utilize various SME support policies that have historically been difficult to access institutionally, ranging from low-interest policy fund loans and credit guarantees to technology development support, market expansion, and workforce assistance.

However, just because a medical corporation is recognized as an SME under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises does not mean that all SME support systems and tax benefits apply across the board. Therefore, eligibility requirements for individual support programs must be examined moving forward.

The amendment to the Small and Medium Enterprises Act, which includes medical corporations in the scope of SMEs, passed the plenary session of the National Assembly earlier this month. The bill was promulgated recently following a Cabinet resolution and will take effect 6 months later on March 30, 2027.

Hitherto, medical corporations have been excluded from the application of SME support policies within the regulatory framework on the grounds that they are non-profit corporations.

Conversely, clinics operated by individuals or medical institutions established by cooperatives could be recognized as SMEs, creating persistent equity issues in the support system among medical institutions.

The amendment submitted to the National Assembly also presented the legislative intent to strengthen the management foundation of regional small and medium-sized hospitals and eliminate blind spots in SME support policies by including medical corporations within the scope of SMEs.

Expanded Accessibility to Policy Finance… Changes in Fundraising Draw Attention

Finance is cited as the most direct area of change. Policy funds operated by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) support startup, growth, institutional turnaround, and emergency management stability funds depending on the growth stage and policy objectives.

In 2026, a total of 4.4313 trillion won in SME policy funds is planned, of which 4.0643 trillion won consists of loans and 3670 billion won consists of interest rate subsidies for private financial institution loans.

Specifically, 1.6058 trillion won is allocated for innovative startup commercialization funds, 3164 billion won for new market entry support funds, 1.818 trillion won for new growth base funds, 6125 billion won for turnaround support funds, and 2500 billion won for emergency management stability funds.

Once medical corporations are recognized as SMEs, a foundation will be established for them to apply to these policy financial programs provided they meet the specific support requirements of each project.

Particularly for small and medium-sized hospitals that require substantial funds for facility investment and equipment replacement, accessibility to policy finance can hold significant meaning.

The parts that the hospital sector will pay attention to include not only simple operating funds but also investment funds necessary for new growth, smart transformation, and digital transition.

However, since the scale, interest rates, and limits for medical corporations to actually utilize policy funds are determined according to the support targets and screening criteria of individual funds, more detailed analysis and approach are required.

Expanded Possibility of Utilizing Credit Guarantees

Policy guarantee systems, such as the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, are also areas that can enhance the financial accessibility of medical corporations.

The credit guarantee system operates by supplementing insufficient collateral when raising funds from financial institutions. For hospitals, this can be expected to resolve collateral issues, reduce financial costs, and enhance external credit ratings.

Last April, a credit guarantee supply plan worth approximately 1.4000 trillion won was announced through a business agreement with four commercial banks, and separate preferential guarantees were also promoted for businesses in non-metropolitan areas.

Accordingly, local small and medium-sized hospitals are expected to further diversify their fundraising methods if projects that include medical corporations as support targets emerge among SME-targeted guarantee products in the future.

Hospital AI and Digital Transformation Also Eligible for R&D Support

The technology development sector is also cited as another effect of inclusion for medical corporations. The government's SME support system includes various R&D projects that support technological innovation and commercialization for SMEs.

Recently, R&D and commercialization support for SMEs has been expanding, focusing particularly on emerging growth fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital transformation, and bio-healthcare.

The MSS has strengthened the system to support everything up to post-technology development commercialization by establishing financial support systems specialized in the commercialization stage of national R&D achievements this year.

In addition, projects supporting entry into public markets by designating products with excellent public utility and innovativeness among SME R&D outcomes as innovative products are also being promoted.

For this reason, digital healthcare, hospital information systems, and AI technologies either independently developed by medical corporations or co-promoted with medical device and AI companies are likely to form touchpoints with future support projects.

However, this does not mean that all internal hospital research will automatically become eligible for R&D support simply because medical corporations are SMEs; they must satisfy requirements such as research and development requirements per project, executing entities, and technological characteristics.

Tax Reductions Are "Separate"… The Biggest Misunderstanding Must Be Guarded Against

However, the part that medical corporations must be most cautious about is interpretations along the lines of "if we become an SME, taxes will automatically decrease."

SMEs under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises and tax-law SMEs under the Restriction of Special Taxation Act are not identical.

The National Tax Service and the government's living law information portal also explain that tax-law SMEs must meet requirements under the Restriction of Special Taxation Act regarding business sectors, sales amounts, and independence, independent of the requirements under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises.

Therefore, it is difficult to view various SME tax deductions or exemptions as being universally applied to medical corporations solely through this legal amendment.

Especially given the characteristic of medical corporations as non-profit corporations, their tax accounting structures differ fundamentally from general for-profit SMEs. Therefore, it is necessary to separately check how individual laws related to tax special cases will apply moving forward.

Ultimately, the core meaning of this legal amendment lies not in receiving one specific subsidy, but in bringing medical corporations into the government's SME policy framework.

The MSS also explained regarding this amendment that if medical corporations meet certain requirements, they will be able to utilize various SME support policies such as policy funds, technology development, and market support.

Consequently, after the law takes effect, the task for each medical corporation to go through SME verification procedures and screen out support programs in which they can actually participate will become crucial.

"SME inclusion goes beyond a simple change in legal status; it means that hospitals can access the SME policy infrastructure," noted the chairman of a medical corporation.

"However, since specific benefit ranges may vary depending on future criteria, there is a need to pre-check actually usable projects ahead of the law's implementation," the chairman added.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]