A hospital specialist has been accused by health authorities of inflating medical expenses and skipping health insurance premiums.
According to Yonhap News on the 4th, a doctor at A Hospital in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do, performed spinal nerve treatment on B three times between April and August last year and injected anesthesia only on one shoulder, but when he charged the Health Insurance Corporation, he inflated the medical expenses as if he had treated both sides.
In August last year, the hospital also treated C and D only on one shoulder, but it is said that it recorded medical records that both shoulders were injected. In this way, the medical records manipulated through these two patients reached three times. This fact was revealed when another doctor, who was an acquaintance of B, informed him of the problems in the medical records, and then secured evidence of inflated medical expenses in cooperation with C and D, who were patients of the same hospital, and reported it to the relevant authorities.
In August last year, B reported false evidence of medical records, such as videos and receipts for medical expenses, to the Health Insurance Corporation at the time of treatment secured through the National Newspaper, and separately informed the competent public health center.
The National Health Insurance Corporation confirmed the possibility of excessive medical expenses claimed by B and others through an on-site investigation in November last year. The public health center also confirmed the report through an on-site investigation and reported the hospital to the police. The Ministry of Health and Welfare also reportedly considered the issue serious and conducted an on-site investigation last month.
The Health Insurance Corporation and the public health center believe that hospital A's overcharging of medical expenses, which has been revealed this time, is the tip of the iceberg. There are not many medical expenses inflated by three people, including B, but it is estimated that it occurred similarly in other patients in the same hospital.
However, hospital A does not admit to overcharging medical expenses. However, the National Health Insurance Corporation judges that there was actually an exaggeration of medical expenses as hospital A explained in the field investigation, "I thought it was okay to do so (for additional anesthetic injection charges)."
It is pointed out that unfair claims for medical expenses are light punishments, such as hospital objections and administrative litigation, even if they are confirmed to be wrongful in field investigations, which take a long time to lead to actual punishment, and even if the problem is finally confirmed, the suspension of the doctor's license is only for about a month.
A hospital official said, "It's not true. It is an inconclusive matter, and an investigation is underway," he said.
B said, "I think the people are suffering from the selfish behavior of doctors over the recent increase in medical schools. Doctors who want to take care of themselves while abandoning the people thought they deserved criticism, so they cooperated with other patients to investigate corruption. I hope the unscrupulous doctor will be severely punished," he stressed.
