Korean Job Discussion Forums

bdot · Joined: 03 Mar 2010

As title suggest here's a recent experience from a friend of mine.

Ok so my mate's girlfriend comes down sick with severe abdominal pain. In the middle of the night he takes her to a pretty big hospital to get checked up.

They do some preliminary tests and decide that appendicitis is a high possibility. They then tell my friend that he and his girlfriend have to provide a deposit of 1 million won for her to be able to stay in the ED and see a doctor. In this major hospital apparently they didn't have a doctor skilled enough to make an accurate diagnosis of appendicitis so she would have to wait for 6+ hours for him to get there.

Anyway with no access to that sort of money they are left with 2 options... sign a hospital has no responsibility for you dying form and go home, or the chick getting her parents to come to the hospital to pay up or be guarantors (not clear about the parents thing). Problem is the parents live hours away and the mother would basically give the daughter hell/disown her if she knew she had a western boyfriend.

Thankfully my friend knew a friend who had access to the savings... so major disaster diverted however later I found out that you don't get this deposit back and that it is used to pay for any costs at the ED. Worse than this they have to top the deposit up for future treatment. Lord knows how much appendicitis surgery costs.

I thought Korea had a good healthcare system but it turns out its only useful for getting cheap acupuncture and cold pills. When you actually have a serious emergency your insurance is basically worthless. Pretty disgusting really.

Ok, I'm an Australian so I'm assuming that these things happen in America, but I thought in any other developed country (especially one with a good reputation for healthcare)... you could get treatment for life-threatening illnesses and expect to find a doctor in an ED department with the ability to diagnose appendicitis.

Wow.

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

Sounds like your friend's girlfriend is (a) Korean and (b) doesn't have a clue as to how to function in Korea as a self-supporting adult (my guess is her parents have been providing anything and everything for her and she's never worked a paying job in Korea). Seems like she has no insurance at all. From personal experience, I can tell you that Korean health insurance is great. I spent almost a month in a hospital for a severely broken foot (if I were younger, no doubt the stay would've been shorter). Insurance covered exactly what I expected it to cover.

The other issues you mention in that story from your friend have nothing to do with Korea's health care system. It's all with the girlfriend and her parents having issues between them. The parents would not have had to come to the hospital as they could easily transfer money to the hospital's account.

JustinC · Joined: 10 Mar 2012 Location: We Are The World!

No access to that sort of money?? What, are you spending all of your wage every month? Didn't the girl's employer help?

In my experience in Asia either your employer will cover your illness or you hand over a credit card. There's no national health service here - something you should be aware of before you even come here - so this should not be a surprise if you need A&E. To go to a hospital and expect free care here is ignorant and borders on stupid. You pay 3% tax and you're caught out when you actually have to pay for healthcare that isn't provided by your sponsor?

You're in a new world here; they have new rules that you need to swat up on.

madoka · Joined: 27 Mar 2008

I think the real lesson here is that two broke people should not date each other.

radcon · Joined: 23 May 2011

Evanzinho · Joined: 10 Apr 2008 Location: California

How can someone not have one million won? Is this friend of yours unemployed?

Everyone should have an emergency fund of at least a couple thousand USD for unforseen emergencies.

madoka · Joined: 27 Mar 2008

radcon · Joined: 23 May 2011

radcon · Joined: 23 May 2011

madoka · Joined: 27 Mar 2008

radcon · Joined: 23 May 2011

NYC_Gal 2.0 · Joined: 10 Dec 2010

1. What kind of garbage hospital was this? I went in with abdominal pain, and was immediately rushed to the ER. There, they put me on an IV, did a pregnancy test (which they had to do before the scan) scanned then diagnosed me. This took a few hours, because I couldn't pee right away.

2. Doesn't she have insurance? I didn't have to pay anything until I checked out, several days later.

3. The total, including my upgrade to a 2-person room instead of the standard 6-bed room, was just over 2 million won. I had the newest form of surgery, with only one incision made in my navel, rather than the slightly older 3-incision type that my mom had just a few years ago when her appendix was removed.

4. Between the two of you, you couldn't scrape together a million won without asking for help? Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE should have an emergency million or two accessible, even if only by using a credit card.

madoka · Joined: 27 Mar 2008

K1020 · Joined: 20 Jun 2010

What I'm interested in is how do they get you to sign a form waiving the hospitals responsibility while punting you? If they were straight up denying you service why would you sign a form reliving them of responsibility?
What happens if you don't, they keep you there but watch you die?

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

In the US, some hospitals have refused emergency treatment. Those hospitals have paid for that refusal because it is illegal. In South Korea, on the other hand, it does not appear to be illegal to refuse treatment until the hospital has a surety of payment.

Speaking of surety of payment, if the friend's girlfriend is over a certain age and unemployed, it doesn't matter that she's residing with her parents. She's not a minor and is not covered under the parent's insurance. Kind of gives new meaning to the term high maintenance, doesn't it?