Health care costs rise with increased remuneration
South Korea saw a big jump in the cost of health care in the first quarter of 2024, government data showed Wednesday, due apparently to a rise in payments for the services physicians provide.
The National Health Insurance Service announced last year that it would increase the amount hospitals get for treatments by 1.98 percent starting this year.
The figure is the largest increase since the third quarter of 2017 when it rose by the same amount. The figure for outpatient treatment fees also rose 2 percent, according to the data.
Currently, the amount hospitals charge for an initial consultation by a physician, for example, is 17,610 won ($12.91) and 12,590 won for revisiting patients, up 290 won and 210 each from the previous year. The medical fee received by pharmacies for a threeday supply of a prescription is 6,610 won.
With the change reflected, the latest number outlined by Statistics Korea’s information service portal showed that the medical price index for inpatient treatment for the first three months of this year, which gauges the changes in the price of medical services, went up by 1.9 percent from the same period last year.
While increased remuneration aims to better compensate physicians for their services, hospitals can also raise their medical charges for some services so that they can be paid more.
In addition, the data found that the costs of dental treatment and traditional Korean medicine have gone up.
The average cost of dental treatment rose by 3.2 percent in the first quarter, which is the largest increase since the third quarter of 2009 when the expense rose by 3.4 percent.