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Patients with excessive hospital visits to pay the price: Ministry

Published: 03 Apr. 2026, 13:36 Updated: 03 Apr. 2026, 19:03

Children and their guardians sit in the waiting area at a hospital in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, on Nov. 23, 2025. [YONHAP]

Patients who visit hospitals over 300 times a year will be required to pay up to 90 percent of their medical costs starting next year.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Friday that it has proposed revisions to the enforcement decree of the National Health Insurance Act. Under the current system, patients who make more than 365 outpatient visits per year must pay 90 percent of medical costs for visits beyond that threshold. The revised rule lowers the threshold to 300 visits annually.

Given that patients typically pay 30 percent at clinics and up to 60 percent at tertiary hospitals, the change effectively increases the financial burden on those who visit hospitals nearly every day.

The measure is aimed at curbing excessive use of medical services and preventing the deterioration of the national health insurance system’s finances. As of 2024, 8,460 patients exceeded 300 outpatient visits per year, with total insurance spending on their treatment reaching about 81 billion won ($53.6 million). Many of these visits were for physical therapy or injections.

Exceptions will be made for patients with unavoidable medical needs. The revised rule is set to take effect on Jan. 1 next year.

To better monitor such usage, the government also plans to establish a real-time system to track patients’ treatment histories. The system will be operated by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.

Separately, measures to ease the burden of health insurance payments for office workers will also be introduced.

The deadline for companies to report employees’ salary information to the National Health Insurance Service — used to recalculate employees’ health insurance premiums each April — had been extended by three weeks, from March 10 to March 31, to improve administrative efficiency.

In addition, rules for paying additional insurance premiums in installments will be eased. Currently, installment payments are allowed only when the additional premium exceeds the monthly premium. The revision lowers the threshold, allowing more workers to split payments rather than paying a lump sum. These changes will take effect immediately upon promulgation.

The ministry said it will gather public feedback on the proposal through May 4.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHAE HYE-SEON [[email protected]]