Clinics found engaging in ‘medical certificate profiteering’ by charging more for necessary documents
Published: 27 Apr. 2026, 13:04
Updated: 27 Apr. 2026, 18:26
![A man is looking at a medical certificate. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/27/0e14a618-e051-4533-b406-6966848bedd4.jpg)
A man is looking at a medical certificate. [YONHAP]
A worker recently underwent suture surgery on a forehead injury at a clinic in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, followed by six outpatient visits, which cost him a total of 900,000 won ($609) in medical bills.
When the patient asked for documents to file a claim with their personal health insurer, the clinic told them they would need to obtain a medical certificate costing 20,000 won.
"I asked for a document that could be issued free of charge or at low cost, but the hospital flatly refused," the patient told the JoongAng Ilbo.
Some medical institutions in Korea have been found to be engaging in "medical certificate profiteering" — steering patients toward more expensive documents or charging excessive fees. Although a price cap on medical certificates is in effect, the lack of meaningful penalties is adding to the financial burden on patients.
Medical institutions currently issue 30 types of certificates, including general and injury diagnosis certificates, all of which are classified as fully non-covered items. Under a Ministry of Health and Welfare directive in effect since 2017, the cap on the issuance fee for a general medical certificate — widely used for insurance claims and employer submissions — is 20,000 won.
The cap for a simpler outpatient or treatment confirmation certificate, which proves that a patient received outpatient care, is 3,000 won. Depending on the type of insurance and the condition involved, relatively straightforward treatments can be claimed using only a confirmation certificate.
Complaints that "hospitals only issue the more expensive diagnosis certificates" nonetheless continue to circulate on social media.
"It is common for hospitals to make patients obtain a diagnosis certificate even for conditions like influenza, where a treatment confirmation certificate is sufficient to file an insurance claim," an insurance planner said. "The additional revenue medical institutions earn from document issuance is likely not insignificant."
![A room inside a dental clinic [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/27/602ed202-b9c6-43b3-a6f1-e06e5f80b65e.jpg)
A room inside a dental clinic [YONHAP]
The total income earned by all medical institutions nationwide from issuing general medical certificates last year reached 136.8 billion won, the National Health Insurance Service said, based on figures reported in March.
The fact that fees vary widely between institutions adds to the frustration.
A survey of certificate fees at more than 62,800 medical institutions nationwide as of September last year — drawn from data obtained by Democratic Party Rep. Nam In-soon from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service — found that the highest fee charged for a general medical certificate was 200,000 won, 10 times the cap set by the directive.
Institutions caught violating the directive face nothing more than a corrective order or administrative guidance. Only 114 medical institutions received such penalties between 2023 and 2025.
Similar problems arise with prescriptions.
If a patient only needs to provide a disease classification code when filing a personal insurance claim, they can use a prescription — which is issued free of charge. Under current medical law, doctors and dentists are required to include the disease code on prescriptions, but a significant number of medical institutions are known to not comply. A Health Ministry official said that "failure to include the disease code on a prescription is subject to administrative guidance," but stronger penalties are difficult to impose.
"The problem is that there are no strong legal penalties even when medical institutions issue only expensive certificates or exceed the fee cap," said Nam. "More fundamental measures are needed to correct excessive fee demands by medical institutions."
"Medical institutions that violate the directive should face real consequences to strengthen the effectiveness of the system," Nam Eun-kyung, director of social policy at the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice, added.
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 KIM NAM-YOUNG, CHAE HYE-SEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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