# Non-covered share of medical spending

> The non-covered share of medical spending in Korea is published by the National Health Insurance Service alongside the health insurance coverage rate.

Both appear by year with their definitions.

Written by the Korea Non-covered Medical Price Statistics editorial team on October 21, 2026. Canonical address: https://kmedprice.org/statistics/share-of-spending.

## What share of medical spending is non-covered?

The yearly share is shown below once the NHIS figures are collected.

(Data table: to be filled after the reference date is confirmed)

## What is the difference between covered and non-covered care?

Covered care follows prices set by the insurance system; non-covered care is priced by each institution.

**Covered, selectively covered, non-covered and full self-pay**

| Category | Who decides | What the patient pays |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Covered (benefit) | Ministry of Health benefit standards | The statutory co-payment share |
| Selectively covered | Ministry of Health notice on selective benefits | A higher co-payment share than regular benefits |
| Non-covered | Listed as non-covered; price set by the institution | The full price set by the institution |
| Full self-pay | Benefit item used outside the set conditions | The full benefit price |

## What is the health insurance coverage rate?

The share of total medical spending paid by health insurance; the rest is co-payments and non-covered charges.

## How is the non-covered price data collected?

Institutions report their non-covered prices under a Ministry of Health notice, and HIRA publishes them; this site aggregates the published file.

The reporting and disclosure standards are set by the Ministry of Health and Welfare notice on non-covered medical fees. HIRA publishes item-level prices by institution. This site downloads the published file, keeps only the item, region, hospital type and price columns, and groups them before anything is saved.

The share of spending comes from NHIS publications, not from the disclosure file; the exact table name is confirmed when the snapshot is collected.

## What can this price data not tell you?

It shows disclosed prices, not what any one patient will pay, and it cannot show the quality of care.

- Disclosed prices can differ from the amount actually billed.
- The scope of disclosed items and institutions changes from year to year.
- Price and treatment results cannot be linked using this data.

Korea Non-covered Medical Price Statistics shows the distribution of prices disclosed to HIRA, not the price at any particular institution, and it introduces or recommends no hospital. The relationship between price and treatment results cannot be judged from this data. Disclosed prices can differ from the amount actually billed. For a specific institution, use HIRA’s official non-covered price service.

## What basis are these numbers on?

| Data | Reference date | Site calculation |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Non-covered share of medical spending | To be filled after the reference date is confirmed | - |

## What else do people ask about non-covered share of spending?

### How much of medical spending in Korea is non-covered?

NHIS publishes the share each year. This page shows it with the reference year once collected.

### Who publishes the coverage rate?

The National Health Insurance Service.

### Does the share include dental and traditional medicine?

The scope follows the NHIS definition for each year, noted in the basis section.

### Why does the share matter to patients?

It shows how much of spending falls outside insurance on average.

### Is this the same as my own out-of-pocket cost?

No. It is a national average and individual costs vary widely.

## What should you read next?

- [What is “non-covered” in Korea’s insurance system?](https://kmedprice.org/articles/what-is-non-covered)
- [Why do we show price ranges, not hospital names?](https://kmedprice.org/articles/why-ranges-not-names)
- [Non-covered price trends by year](https://kmedprice.org/statistics/trend)
- [Covered or non-covered self-check](https://kmedprice.org/tools/coverage-check)

## Where do these numbers come from?

- [National Health Insurance Statistical Yearbook](https://www.nhis.or.kr/nhis/together/wbhaec06300m01.do) - National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)
- [National Health Insurance Act](https://www.law.go.kr/법령/국민건강보험법) - Korea Law Information Center