Why You Need to Bring an ID When Going to the Hospital Starting in May

When we are sick, we visit a hospital and receive treatment. Until now, we have been able to visit a hospital and receive treatment without bringing an ID when going to the hospital.

However, starting May 20, you must present an ID when receiving medical treatment at a hospital in order to receive health insurance coverage.

Anyone who wants to receive health insurance coverage at a medical institution must undergo identity verification. This is a measure to prevent people from using someone else’s identity to receive treatment and misuse health insurance.

In fact, there were often cases where people received health insurance coverage under the name of someone who was not actually sick and benefited from treatment costs or medication costs.

In other words, this has strengthened the identity verification process when receiving hospital treatment in order to prevent uninsured people or those without insurance from fraudulently using insurance benefits.

Starting May 20, 2024, the identity verification process for medical treatment at medical institutions will be mandatory, so you must bring an ID when going to the hospital.

If you visit a hospital for treatment but cannot verify your identity, you will have to receive treatment as non-covered care, so please keep this in mind.

Examples of identification that can be used include a resident registration card, driver’s license, health insurance card, passport, national merits registration card, and mobile ID.

If you forgot your ID, you can search for and install the mobile health insurance certificate, then present it at the reception desk and use it in place of an ID.

Only physical IDs are recognized. Copies or photos of an ID are not accepted, so please be sure to bring the actual ID.

Also, if you bring a certificate or document, you must check the expiration date and bring one whose valid period has not passed.

There are also exceptions to identity verification. These include people under 19 years of age, emergency patients, people with limited mobility, and other cases designated and announced by the Minister of Health and Welfare.

In addition, if you are referred to another medical institution, returned after referral, or receiving medication at a pharmacy according to a prescription, identity verification will be carried out using your resident registration number.

As such, starting in May, you must bring your hospital ID to receive health insurance coverage, so please remember to bring your ID when visiting a medical institution.

We have looked into the details about bringing an ID when going to the hospital, so please refer to information such as which forms of ID can be used and who is exempt from identity verification.