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Using hospitals in Korea: clinics and general hospitals, referral letters, emergency rooms, pharmacies, and what health insurance covers

Last checked: 21 October 2026 · compared against 7 official sources opened that day

Korean healthcare runs from neighborhood clinics to university hospitals, and health insurance follows those levels. Knowing where to start, what to show at the desk and where to collect medicine saves time and money. We checked the Medical Service Act, the National Health Insurance Act and Rules, the rules on insured medical care, the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, the Emergency Medical Service Act and the National Emergency Medical Center's portal on 21 October 2026. We do not list fees, which differ by hospital and item.

Clinics, hospitals and general hospitals

Article 3 of the Medical Service Act divides institutions into clinic-level ones (medical, dental and Korean medicine clinics), which mainly see outpatients, and hospital-level ones (hospitals, dental and Korean medicine hospitals, long-term care and psychiatric hospitals, and general hospitals), which mainly treat inpatients. General hospitals designated under Article 3-4 of the Act are tertiary hospitals, which the insurance rules treat separately. For everyday problems, start at a local clinic in the right specialty and phone ahead to ask whether you need an appointment.

Two stages and the referral letter

Article 2 of the rules on insured care splits care into stage 1, at any institution other than a tertiary hospital, and stage 2, at a tertiary hospital, and members must go through stage 1 first. To be seen at a tertiary hospital under health insurance, bring a referral letter (or a health check report) stating that tertiary care is needed, plus your insurance card or ID. Emergency patients, childbirth, dental care, family medicine, rehabilitation for registered disabled people, the hospital's own staff and haemophilia patients can go straight there. Ask the billing office how costs change without a referral.

At the desk

Article 12 of the National Health Insurance Act requires providers to check your identity and eligibility with an insurance card or ID, and Article 7 of the Rules lists the residence card as valid ID, so always bring it. Lending or borrowing someone else's card or ID for treatment is illegal. Writing down your symptoms, when they started, current medicines and allergies helps if your Korean is limited.

What insurance covers

Article 41 covers examinations, medicines and materials, procedures and surgery, prevention and rehabilitation, admission, nursing and transport, except items the Ministry of Health and Welfare excludes, such as treatment for conditions that do not affect work or daily life. Covered care still has a co-payment (Article 44), and if your yearly co-payments exceed a set cap, the insurer pays the excess. Without coverage you pay everything yourself, and arrears can suspend benefits for foreign regional members. Article 45 of the Medical Service Act makes providers display non-covered prices and forbids charging more; ask for the price and an itemized bill.

Prescriptions and pharmacies

Under Article 23 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, doctors prescribe and pharmacists dispense, so you usually take the prescription from the clinic to a pharmacy to collect your medicine. Prescription-only medicines cannot be dispensed without it, so keep it safe. Ask about timing, food and interactions, and show the pharmacist any medicine you brought from home.

Emergency rooms

Article 3 of the Emergency Medical Service Act gives everyone a right to emergency care without discrimination and states that foreigners staying in Korea have the same right; Article 6 forbids refusing emergency care without good reason. For unconsciousness, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding or sudden chest pain, call 119 or go to an emergency room. The Act defines an emergency patient as someone who, through illness, childbirth, an accident or injury, could lose their life or suffer serious harm without immediate treatment (Article 2).

If such a patient cannot pay, the provider can claim the unpaid amount from a public fund, but the fund can later recover it from the patient and family (Article 22): emergency care cannot be refused, but it is not free. The E-Gen emergency medical portal lists open emergency rooms, hospitals and pharmacies at night and on holidays.

Children at night: Moonlight hospitals

The National Emergency Medical Center promotes Moonlight Children's Hospitals for weekday nights, weekends and holidays. They see children until midnight, 365 days a year, and the center says they are closer and cost less than an emergency room. Not every area has one, so find yours on the portal map in advance. For a child in real danger, call 119.

What to bring

Your residence card, a note of symptoms and medicines, a referral letter and earlier results for a tertiary hospital, your private insurer's details if you have one, and the habit of asking prices and getting an itemized bill for non-covered care.