Korean Job Discussion Forums

[poet13]

I was out with a Korean mate last night, and told him that I would be going to the hospital in a couple of days to get a problem sorted out.
I asked him about deductibles, or what he thought I might have to pay, percentage of cost, etc.
He thought I would be responsible for about 50% of the cost of care.

Given that my care may involve staying in a hospital, does anyone now what the REAL costs are?
Also, do I pay up front, and submit a claim to insurance?
I've never received major care here (got an x-ray once) so I have no idea what to expect.
(Yes, I did a search first...) (and the search function bites)

[Rteacher]

I've never had anything major done so I've never been asked to pay anything up front. My experience has been at the Seoul National University Clinic, and I've gotten a reduced rate with my insurance card for procedures that are covered - no reimbursement.

I've always asked the English-speaking nurses at SNL to give me an estimate of what the total charges would be before seeing doctors (or dentists) and they at least have always given me a ballpark figure...

For my dental work, it seemed that only cheap procedures were covered, but that might have been because better quality fillings, etc. are considered mainly cosmetic...

[poet13]

So I guess insurance doesn't cover the cost of health care, it only ameliorates it. That sucks. Between my employer and I, we pay almost 100k a month. I'm not looking forward to a huge bill. I will also have to wait until I get paid now, because yesterday I bought a computer.

Has anybody out there had any experience with staying in a hospital for a few nights, or had to deal with specialists? Can you describe what you had to pay for, and wht percentage of total cost was yours vs insurance?

Specifically, I need to see a lung person. Have been coughing green and nasty yellow for about two months, and my lung capacity is significantly reduced. Not good.

[Kimchieluver]

Seeing a specialist will cost you anywhere from 50,000 to 300,000. It all depends on what kind of testing needs to be done. If they are taking several xrays, things can add up quickly. I highly recommend you see the specialist as an out patient. A few days in a decent hospital room may set you back a million.

[Cerebroden]

a million?!?! then wtf is the point of insurance in this country?

[Kimchieluver]

[poet13]

The way my mate explained it, people here pay according to their earnings. So very low wages earners may pay next to nothing, but receive the same care.
I definitely want to do anything as an outpatient, and hopefully it will be a matter of getting some anti-biotics and not drinking and smoking for a week....

[tzechuk]

OK, two things I know:

1. No. You are not responsible for 50% of the cost.. more like 30%.

2. It depends on where you go. HUGE hospitals are a lot more expensive than small private clinics that also have a *hospital*. Big hospitals charge you a lot of things that are admin related, whereas smaller ones don't.

Smaller ones (go find your specialist with an in-patient unit) will do tests for you... they charge you a little bit more to take the tests to big hospitals for analysis, but they won't charge your handling fee, this fee and that fee.

Also it's cheaper to stay in these smaller places, too - between 30,000 to 50,000 a night? (Not sure but my husband said about that).

3. My husband says that it is while the insurance rate is somewhat variable, it is basically the same for everyone (the rate, I mean), which means that if you are poor and you need a major operation, you are doomed.

[dsdavis]

If you have National Health Insurance (NHI), you will pay between 30-50% for outpatient care and 20% for inpatient care. These are for the basic services in which the government regulates prices.

If you are inpatient and want to reduce costs dramatically, choose a multiple-patient room (5-6 bed). These are covered by NHI (80%), as opposed to private and two-patient rooms which are not. This is assuming you don't mind the extra people in your room and the hospital has availability at the time you are admitted. If the procedure is elective and you are going to one of the big hospitals, try to schedule the procedure far in advance so you can get an insured room.

[ttompatz]

[huffdaddy]

For me, minor surgery plus 1.5 days in the hospital came to W640,000. I had a professor as my doctor, so he charged more.

Just make sure you get on the Western meal plan.

BTW, minor surgery and one night in the hospital in the US ran me about US$10,000.

[Wisconsinite]

I stayed in the hospital for a week and the total bill with insurance including a private room, massive antibiotics, daily doctor visits, CAT scans was 350,000 won. Without insurance the bill was around 800,000 won. It seemed when I translated my bill that some services were covered and some were not and some were covered partially. You have to pay before you can leave, but in my case my director paid the bill and took it out of my next paycheck.

It was a country hospital so it may have been less expensive than a big hospital in Seoul. Good luck!

[blynch]

[mep3]

Well, to try to put it in perspective -- If you needed something major like a heart operation or chemo for cancer or intensive care after an auto accident or something like that -- what are the costs like for stuff like that in Korea (won/USD), and how much would you be liable for if you had the national insurance? I generally think of insurance as protection in the event of something big -- the small stuff can be taken care of out of pocket. Mep

[Young FRANKenstein]