Cataract Surgery Lenses: '330,000 Won' VS '9,000,000 Won'... Is the Price Justified?

Up to 27 Times Difference Between Hospitals... This Year's Non-Covered Medical Fees Released

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] The price of multifocal lenses for cataract surgery was found to vary up to 27 times between hospitals and clinics.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service announced on the 13th that from the 14th, they will disclose the 2022 non-reimbursable medical treatment costs by medical institution. The non-reimbursable medical cost disclosure system is designed to guarantee the public's right to know and help make rational choices by revealing price information of non-reimbursable medical items that vary by medical institution. A total of 578 non-reimbursable items across all medical institutions are subject to disclosure.

As a result of investigating the average price per non-reimbursable item, 75.6% of the items increased in price compared to the previous year, while 22.9% decreased. The proportion of non-reimbursable items with a price increase rate higher than this year's inflation rate (5.0% as of November) was 14.9%. Specifically, the multifocal lenses for cataract surgery increased by an average of 4.1%, and physical therapy increased by an average of 4.9%.

Due to factors such as coverage by indemnity insurance, there was a large price variation among medical institutions for major non-reimbursable medical items. For example, the multifocal lenses for cataract surgery were cheapest at Clinic A in Busan at 330,000 KRW, and most expensive at Clinic B in Incheon at 9,000,000 KRW. Physical therapy has a median price around 100,000 KRW, but at Clinic D in Gyeonggi Province, it reached up to 500,000 KRW. Ultrasound-guided HIFU procedures were lowest at Hospital E in Gyeonggi at 2,000,000 KRW and highest at Clinic F in Gyeongnam at 25,000,000 KRW.

Non-reimbursable medical costs are disclosed through the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service website and the mobile application 'Health e-um.' From this year, functions such as price information confirmation and search have been improved.

The government is considering ways to improve the quality of information by selecting non-reimbursable items that require focused management. Items with large non-reimbursable scales, high social interest, or significant medical importance, such as multifocal lenses for cataracts and physical therapy, will be selected to provide more detailed information on safety and effectiveness.

Additionally, depending on the nature of each non-reimbursable item, the government is also considering disclosing various indicators including medical institution facilities (infrastructure). For cases like preventive vaccinations where service differences between medical institutions are minimal, the current price-centered disclosure method will be maintained. For surgeries and procedures where service differences between institutions are clear, various indicators including personnel and equipment infrastructure will be developed and disclosed.

For items with high risks of side effects such as low-price inducement, poor-quality treatment, and bundled sales, reasonable disclosure methods will be sought through the Non-Reimbursable Management Policy Council. Kang Jun, Director of Medical Security Management at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "We will develop the non-reimbursable medical cost disclosure system for all medical institutions, now in its second year, to provide practical help to users."

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