The cost of private hospital rooms for general patients hospitalized in oriental medicine hospitals has increased by 54% over the past two years.
According to a report by the Insurance Research Institute on Aug. 25 titled 'Comparison and Implications of General Patient Hospitalization Costs Before and After the Improvement of the Private Room System in Automobile Insurance,' the room charges for general patients from the top four companies in the automobile insurance market decreased from 148.94 billion won in 2022 to 130.1 billion won in 2023, but increased again to 160.1 billion won last year, a rise of 23%.
Earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport revised the automobile insurance payment standards to compensate for the private room hospitalization fees only in hospitals or higher when there are no general wards or in cases where it is medically necessary until the 7th day of hospitalization in November 2022.
Since then, the cost of private room hospitalization for general patients has decreased in general hospitals and oriental medicine clinics. The private hospital room fees for general patients in medical institutions overall (including general hospitals, hospitals, and clinics) decreased by 13.3% from 4.976 billion won in 2022 to 4.314 billion won in 2024. During the same period, the private room costs for general patients in oriental medicine clinics plummeted from 13.14 billion won to 21 million won.
However, the growth trend has expanded in oriental medicine hospitals. The costs for general patients in private rooms at oriental medicine hospitals increased from 15.985 billion won to 24.717 billion won, a rise of 54.6%.
Jeon Yong-sik, a senior researcher at the Insurance Research Institute, noted, "After the improvement of the system in 2022, the proportion of patients hospitalized in western medical institutions dropped from 7% in 2022 to 6% in 2024, while the ratio of general patients hospitalized in oriental medicine hospitals rose from 13% to 16%," adding, "Due to the non-covered items in oriental medicine, hospitalization costs have significantly increased in oriental medicine hospitals."
The senior researcher emphasized, "We need to establish comprehensive measures for system improvement by specifying the hospitalization criteria for general patients and exploring sanctions against medical institutions that only offer private rooms without general wards."