By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a 3 billion won ($2.6 million) fine on eight general hospitals in Seoul and its vicinity, Wednesday, for raking in undue income through overcharging patients.
The suspect institutions overcharged patients by over 300 billion won over the past three-and-a-half years and also forced pharmaceutical firms to donate as much as 60 billion won in total in return for guaranteeing the purchase of their drugs, the agency said.
They include Asan Medical Center, Yonsei Severance Hospital, Samsung Hospital and Seoul National University Hospital.
According to the FTC the hospitals conned patients into undergoing "designated treatments" that were not covered by the national health insurance system.
Patients are allowed to pick their doctors for these treatments but were steered toward the most expensive. Asan Medical Center earned the biggest gains from the fraudulent behavior with 68.9 billion won, trailed by Samsung with 60.3 billion won and Severance with 57.6 billion, the FTC said.
In another rule-breaking case, Samsung Hospital and Ajou University Medical Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, collected additional fees from patients, even though they were included in treatment bills and insurance.
The commission is also currently investigating a coercion case involving some teaching hospitals over donations from local drug companies.
The Catholic University of Korea, which owns Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, allegedly received a total of 22.9 billion won in forced contributions, while Yonsei University earned 16.3 billion won under the pretext of expenses at its Severance Hospital.
Patients will be able to seek reimbursement of the overcharged fees, the FTC said.
However, the fined hospitals claim that their actions did not break any current rules and regulations.
"We have been guaranteeing patients' right of choice about designated treatments," Seoul National University Hospital said in a press release.
It also said no donations have been forced on drugs firms, adding that "it's very regrettable the FTC has named the hospitals, even though it has decided to reinvestigate the case due to insufficient evidence."