South Korean hospitals face unpaid bills for treating undocumented migrants
In South Korea, hospitals are facing prolonged hospital stays and unpaid medical bills for migrants without legal status who lack documents or family support. This was reported by The Korea Herald, citing a study by medical professionals and data from a government commission.
Patients cannot leave hospitals
A study led by Son Kyung-jun, a professor of emergency medicine at Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, covered six migrants without legal status. Between 2017 and 2023, they were repeatedly transferred between a private charitable hospital and public medical institutions. The findings were published in the August issue of the Journal of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine.
All patients were initially hospitalized for emergency treatment. After it was completed, they could not be discharged or receive social support due to the lack of state-recognized documents and relatives who could help. According to the study, patients were transferred between institutions up to four times because a further care plan had to be determined before discharge.
Five of the six patients tested positive for multidrug-resistant microorganisms after recurrent infections during prolonged hospital stays and transfers. Four patients died, while two others were transferred to nursing care facilities.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Unpaid treatment costs
The problem also creates a financial burden for medical institutions, which may be unable to recover costs if a patient dies or is deported. In July, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission reported on a hospital in Ulsan that was not paid 837 million won, or about $622,000, for treating a woman from China without legal status.
The woman arrived in South Korea on a tourist visa, later worked at a restaurant in Ulsan, and collapsed due to a brain hemorrhage. She required long-term treatment for six years and four months, until April. Her family in China refused to claim her remains and pay the medical expenses; part of the amount was covered by religious groups and a fundraising campaign in China.
The commission recommended that the health and foreign affairs ministries cooperate with patients' countries of origin to address unpaid bills and repatriation. In 2025, South Korea had 357,598 foreigners without legal status, compared with 423,675 in 2023.
