Mandatory Medical Fee Posting Expanded to Single-Doctor Clinics
Mostly 'Tricks' Like Listing Only Minimum Rates
"Local Government Crackdown Starting in March"
On the afternoon of the 19th, when asked about the cost of X-ray imaging for pets at an animal hospital in Jung-gu, Seoul, this was the response. When requesting to see the itemized medical fees, a nurse took out an A4 sheet from the work drawer at the reception desk. Upon inspection, the section for listing the medical fees was blank, and the remarks column contained a note stating, "Costs may vary depending on the animal species, breed, weight, and imaging area."
Looking at the costs for another test, the complete blood count test and interpretation fee, the minimum fee (base fee) was listed as 130,000 won, but the maximum fee was again left blank. The remarks column stated, "Additional charges may apply for outsourced external tests."
The medical staff at the hospital said, "Since conditions and situations vary greatly depending on the animal, it is difficult to set fixed medical fees and operate accordingly," adding, "We try to provide treatment based on the base fee as much as possible, but unavoidable additional charges sometimes occur."
One year after implementation... 'Violations' found in many animal hospitals in Seoul
According to the revised Veterinarian Act, from January 5th this year, all animal hospitals nationwide must post medical fees for 11 items, including consultation fees, hospitalization fees, vaccination fees, and complete blood count test fees, in places easily visible to consumers such as the reception desk or waiting areas within the hospital. Additionally, in cases requiring significant treatment, the expected charges must be verbally communicated in advance.
This system was initially applied to animal hospitals with two or more veterinarians from January 5th last year and was expanded nationwide this year to include single-veterinarian animal hospitals. However, after visiting 10 animal hospitals around Seoul, it was found that half of them either did not properly specify the medical fees or, even if specified, did not display them where consumers could see.
The most common case was listing the minimum fee but leaving the maximum fee blank, effectively failing to provide consumers with accurate medical fee information. Some hospitals posted itemized fees in places not easily visible or kept them in work drawers inaccessible to customers. At one animal hospital run by a single veterinarian, the response was outright, "There are no fixed fees for each test."
An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "Even if the minimum fee is listed, not listing the maximum fee is tantamount to violating the system," adding, "From March, local governments will conduct inspections, issuing a first correction order for violations and imposing fines from the second offense onward."
Medical fee 'price shocks' still persist
The mandatory posting of animal hospital medical fees was implemented to increase transparency in animal hospital fees, which had become arbitrary since the standard fee system was abolished in 1999. The aim is to prevent excessive treatment and billing by posting previously opaque fees in places consumers can easily see and by providing advance notice of expected charges before significant treatments.
However, voices indicate that not only the posting of fees but also the advance notification of expected charges are not well observed in practice. Yoon (30), a resident of Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, recently hospitalized his dog for pancreatitis at a nearby animal hospital for three days and was charged 1.46 million won. Upon reviewing the details, the charges included consultation fees, hospitalization fees, X-ray imaging, fluid therapy, injection fees, and blood test fees of 150,000 won per test, conducted three times daily.
Yoon said, "I accepted the other tests as essential prescriptions for pancreatitis, but I questioned whether it was necessary to perform a blood test costing 150,000 won every day," adding, "It would have been fine if I had been informed in advance, but I was very surprised to receive the receipt after the treatment without any explanation."
According to the Ministry of Agriculture's nationwide survey of animal hospital medical fees, even for the same item, fees can vary by up to several dozen times depending on the hospital. The largest difference was in follow-up consultation fees, with the minimum fee at 2,000 won and the maximum fee at 100,000 won, a difference of about 50 times. Other items also showed wide disparities, such as consultation fees varying by 45 times, hospitalization fees by 30 times, and complete blood count test fees by 30 times between minimum and maximum fees.
The government plans to standardize 100 pet medical service items by the end of this year to alleviate the difficulties faced by pet owners. The rationale is that with standardized medical items, treatments will be conducted as pre-notified, significantly reducing concerns about excessive treatment.
An official from the Ministry of Agriculture said, "We are well aware of the dissatisfaction pet owners currently feel regarding animal hospital fees," adding, "Since the pet medical system is not a public sector like human healthcare, it is realistically difficult to introduce a standard fee system, but we will do our best to ensure that posting of fees and advance notifications are properly observed in practice to achieve similar effects."
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