Additional 1,499 Won Cost for Using Hospitals and Pharmacies During Chuseok Holiday

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 27th that the 'Saturday, Nighttime, and Holiday Medical Fee Surcharge System' will be applied during the six-day Chuseok holiday from September 28 to October 3. During this period, if you use hospitals, clinics, or pharmacies, you will have to pay 30-50% more than usual. This means paying about 1,499 KRW more than on weekdays.

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The Saturday, Nighttime, and Holiday Medical Fee Surcharge System allows all medical institutions (including hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, dental clinics, and Korean medicine clinics) to add surcharges to medical fees and dispensing fees when providing care during nighttime, Saturday afternoons, and holidays. On weekdays, from 6 PM to 9 AM the next day, on Saturday afternoons, and all day on Sundays and holidays, medical institutions can charge patients an additional 30-50% on basic consultation fees, anesthesia fees, treatment, and surgery fees, while pharmacies can add 30% to basic dispensing fees, dispensing fees, and medication guidance fees.

If anesthesia, treatment, or surgery is performed during an emergency at night or on a holiday, a 50% surcharge is added to the medical fees. For example, if you receive a simple suture at a local clinic, you will pay 30% more than usual. In particular, at local clinics and pharmacies, a 30% surcharge applies not only on Saturday afternoons but also on Saturday mornings (from 9 AM to before 1 PM) for consultations or dispensing medications.

Currently, if a patient visits a local clinic on a weekday, they pay a co-payment of 4,995 KRW (30%) out of the initial consultation fee of 16,650 KRW. For primary medical institutions, patients pay 30% of the health insurance-covered medical fees, and the remaining 70% is covered by the National Health Insurance Service. If you visit a local clinic on a Saturday, holiday, or weekday night, you must pay a co-payment of 6,494 KRW (30%) out of the increased initial consultation fee of 21,645 KRW, which is 30% higher than on weekdays.

However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that although the holiday surcharge will be applied on October 2, which is a temporary holiday during the Chuseok period, medical institutions will not be considered in violation of the Medical Service Act if they charge patients with pre-scheduled appointments the same co-payment as on weekdays.