Three national university hospitals apply international rates typically associated with medical tourism to services for undocumented migrants as a default policy, raising concerns over access to essential care, according to data released Tuesday by Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Yoon.
Pusan National University Hospital’s main facility in Busan, Seoul National University Hospital and Chonnam National University Hospital told Kim’s office that their default policy was to apply international rates to services for undocumented migrants.
Hospitals set their own eligibility criteria and charges, but international rates typically apply to foreign nationals visiting Korea for medical treatment, including medical tourists, as well as uninsured patients, including Koreans and foreigners.
Some hospitals apply standard rates, or those charged to uninsured patients, including Koreans and foreigners, to services for undocumented migrants.
Practices can differ even within the same university hospital network. While Pusan National University Hospital’s main facility charges international rates, its Yangsan hospital applies standard rates.
Kim’s office compared medical charges for foreign patients at national university hospitals with those for patients receiving care under a government medical assistance program for vulnerable foreigners, using data from 2023 to 2025.
The analysis focused on the 20 diagnosis categories accounting for the largest amounts of assistance under the program, excluding categories with fewer than five patients.
Across the remaining 13 outpatient diagnosis categories, average total medical charges per patient were about 2.03 million won ($1,500) for foreign patients at national university hospitals, compared with 1.24 million won for patients under the assistance program — roughly 1.6 times as much.
The hospital patient group was not limited to undocumented migrants. The comparison also did not account for differences in illness severity, treatment details or hospital type, limiting the extent to which the gap could be attributed to international patient rates.
"Applying international patient rates indiscriminately to all foreigners could hurt vulnerable patients who already struggle with medical costs," Kim said.
"The point is not to question the need for international rates, but to refine the criteria based on patients’ reasons for seeking care and their financial circumstances."
yunapark@heraldcorp.com