Hospital addicts are on the rise, putting a growing burden on the finances of the national health insurance system. According to a report released by the National Health Insurance Corp., some 520,000 people visited hospitals more than 100 times in 2010, up from 440,000 in 2008 and 490,000 in 2009.

The corporation says if this figure is cut in half, it would be able to reap 800 billion won in savings. In 2010, the national health insurance fund posted a deficit of 1.3 trillion won. The corporation predicts the deficit would swell to 10 trillion won in 2018 and 30 trillion won in 2025 due to the nation’s rapid population aging.

The report cited a few extreme cases of hospital addiction. For instance, a 53-year old woman in North Jeolla Province received medical treatment 1,806 times in 2010, which means she made six visits to the doctor a day on average, excluding Sundays and national holidays. She used 16 hospitals and clinics.

The report also said some people purchased too much medication, adding to the strain on the health insurance fund. In 2010, 1,644 people received prescriptions for more than 2,000 days worth of medication.

One extreme case involved a 66-year-old woman in northern Seoul who used her health insurance 21,920 times in 2010. She went to the hospital 936 times and bought a whopping 20,984 days worth of prescription medication.

The increase in hospital addicts is partly due to the nation’s population aging. Of the 520,000 people who went to the hospital more than 100 times in 2010, 63 percent were seniors aged 65 years or older.

One reason for elderly people’s frequent hospital visits is the low treatment fee for them. They pay just 1,500 won out of their pockets if the total treatment cost is less than 15,000 won.

To curb the growth of hospital hoppers, it would be necessary to increase out-of-pocket expenses for people who receive medical treatment beyond a certain number of times a year.

At the same time, the NHIC needs to step up efforts to monitor and manage hospital addicts. Thus far it has not bothered to make such efforts. For instance, it has not found out why the North Jeolla woman visited hospitals so many times or why the Seoul woman purchased so much medication.

The government, for its part, needs to study ways to reform the current fee-for-service health insurance payment system, which gives an incentive for doctors and hospitals to treat more patients. Under this system, the more patients they treat, the more money they make.