More Than One-Third of Medical Fees at Seoul Hospitals Are Paid by Out-of-Town Patients

NHIS, 2019 Regional Medical Usage Statistical Yearbook
Last Year Medical Expenses 94.7 Trillion KRW... 1.91 Million KRW Per Person

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] More than one-third of the medical expenses at healthcare institutions in Seoul were incurred by patients coming from regions outside Seoul. This indicates that the concentration of patients at large hospitals in Seoul remains unchanged.

According to the regional medical usage statistical yearbook released by the National Health Insurance Service on the 16th, the total medical expenses at healthcare institutions in Seoul, based on metropolitan municipalities, amounted to 23.302 trillion KRW last year. Of this, medical expenses from patients who came from other regions were recorded at 8.5315 trillion KRW, accounting for 36.6%. This means that medical expenses incurred by patients living outside Seoul but visiting hospitals in Seoul exceed one-third.

Seoul has a concentration of large hospitals such as tertiary general hospitals, attracting patients from all over the country. The government has been implementing various measures to alleviate the patient concentration in the metropolitan area. Following Seoul, the regions with the highest proportion of medical expenses from out-of-area patients were Gwangju (30.5%), Daejeon (28.1%), and Daegu (24.9%). These regions exceeded the national average of 20.6%. The regions with the lowest intake of out-of-area patients were Jeju (4.8%), Jeonbuk (7.2%), and Gyeongbuk (8.4%).

According to the National Health Insurance Service, the total medical expenses last year were 94.6765 trillion KRW, an increase of more than 10.4% compared to the previous year. The annual medical expense per person was calculated at 1.91 million KRW. This was calculated by combining the insurance-covered amount and the out-of-pocket expenses based on the date of medical service (treatment).

Seoul National University Hospital, Jongno-gu, Seoul / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Looking at basic local governments, the utilization rate of medical institutions within the patient's own residential area was found to be only around 20-30%. In the case of Ongjin-gun, Incheon, the utilization rate of local healthcare institutions was 23.7%. This means that less than one-quarter of Ongjin-gun residents seek medical treatment or hospitalization in hospitals within their own region. Other areas with notably low rates included Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongbuk (32.0%), Goseong-gun, Gangwon (34.1%), Yangyang-gun, Gangwon (34.6%), and Sinan-gun, Jeonnam (35.1%). On the other hand, Jeju City was the only area nationwide to exceed 90%, with Chuncheon-si, Gangwon (88.4%), Wonju-si (86.8%), and Gangneung-si (86.7%) also showing high rates. The national average was about 62.7%.

The area with the highest annual medical expense per person was Sinan-gun, Jeonnam, at approximately 3.32 million KRW. This was followed by Sunchang-gun, Jeonbuk (3.29 million KRW) and Uiryeong-gun, Gyeongnam (3.26 million KRW). Conversely, the areas with the lowest medical expenses were Yeongtong-gu, Suwon at 1.32 million KRW, followed by Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi (1.42 million KRW) and Suji-gu, Yongin (1.46 million KRW). This indicates a maximum difference of about 2.5 times between regions with high and low medical expenses.

The regions with the highest number of patients receiving treatment for representative chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes were also in rural areas. Based on the number of patients per 100,000 population, Seocheon, Chungnam had the highest number of hypertension patients at 26,146, followed by Goheung, Jeonnam (25,801) and Goseong-gun (25,386). For diabetes, Goheung-gun had 12,775 patients, Uiseong-gun, Gyeongbuk had 12,062, and Hampyeong-gun, Jeonnam had 11,990 patients.

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