What a medical tourism package means in Korea
In Korea, the word package is used loosely. Sometimes it means a fixed-price bundle sold by a medical tourism agency that covers the procedure and some travel services. Sometimes a clinic uses it to describe its own all-inclusive estimate for one procedure. The two are priced and regulated differently, so it helps to know which one you are looking at.
An agency package is a travel product. The agency contracts with one or more clinics, adds services such as airport pickup and interpretation, and sells the whole thing under one price. A clinic estimate is a medical quotation. It lists what the clinic itself will provide and nothing else. Korean clinics publish a fee list for treatments that national insurance does not cover, and a clinic estimate should follow that list. The pricing page explains how to read one.
Neither model is right or wrong. A package suits a reader who wants one contact for everything. A direct estimate suits a reader who wants to see each line and arrange travel independently.
What packages usually include and exclude
Package contents vary by agency, so read the inclusion list rather than the headline price. Most packages list the procedure and the clinic consultation. Many add a local interpreter for appointments, airport transfers and a set number of hotel nights. Some include a post-operative check at the clinic before you fly home.
What is usually excluded: international flights, meals outside the clinic, travel insurance, prescription medication after discharge, and any treatment for complications. Pre-operative tests may or may not be included. Follow-up care after you return home is almost never part of a package, because the agency has no role once you leave Korea.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises travelers to arrange follow-up care before they travel, and to find out in advance what complication care would cost and whether insurance covers it. The NHS guidance on cosmetic surgery abroad adds two questions: what happens if there are complications, and where follow-up care will be given. A package that does not answer those questions in writing is incomplete, whatever its price.
Agencies and facilitators: what they do and how they are paid
A medical tourism facilitator is an intermediary. The facilitator finds a clinic, arranges appointments, books transport and accommodation, and often provides an interpreter. A facilitator coordinates travel and appointments. The clinic, not the facilitator, is responsible for your medical care.
Facilitators are paid in one of two ways. Some charge the patient a service fee that appears on the invoice. Others receive a referral fee from the clinic, which is folded into the price the patient pays. In the second case the patient may not see the fee at all.
Before you pay a facilitator, ask three things in writing: whether the facilitator is registered with the Korean authorities as a medical tourism agency, how the facilitator is paid, and whether the clinic price would be the same if you booked directly. Those answers tell you what you are paying for.
Booking directly with a registered clinic
You do not need an agency to be treated in Korea. Clinics that treat international patients register with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Our page on medical tourism in Korea explains how to look a clinic up in the public directory and gives the clinic's registration number.
When you book directly, you deal with the clinic's own staff from the first message. Some clinics offer a video consultation before travel; others review your history and photographs by email. Either way, ask for a written estimate before you buy a flight, and ask that it name the procedure, the anesthesia plan, the length of stay and the documents you will receive. The booking steps at Podo are set out on the how-to-book page.
Direct booking means you arrange travel yourself. That is more work, but every cost is visible and you choose your own hotel, dates and airline.
What you arrange yourself
Entry: United States and Canadian passport holders can enter Korea without a visa for short visits. Whether a K-ETA is required has changed several times; check the official K-ETA site and the Korea Visa Portal before you buy a ticket. The what-to-bring page and the medical tourism page cover entry in more detail, including the medical visa some nationalities need.
Accommodation: book a hotel or serviced apartment within a short taxi ride of the clinic. Allow for the number of days stated in your written plan rather than the shortest stay you can find. At Podo, plan for 5 to 10 days in Seoul after incontinence or prolapse surgery. The CDC notes that flying after surgery can increase the risk of blood clots, so the written plan also sets the earliest date you should fly. The flying-home page explains the check-up before departure.
Travel insurance: ordinary travel policies usually exclude planned treatment abroad and its complications. Read the exclusions. If you want cover for an elective procedure, you need a policy written for it. The CDC also recommends international travel health insurance that covers medical evacuation back to the United States.
Phone and money: a Korean SIM or eSIM and a card that works abroad are enough for most visitors. Ask the clinic to confirm in writing which payment methods it accepts before you travel.
Tax rules that touch medical travel
Two tax matters come up with Korea medical tourism packages, and neither is a reason to choose a package over a direct estimate.
Korean tax refunds. Ask at consultation whether any Korean tax refund applies to your procedure, and get the answer in writing. Do not plan around a refund until you have it.
United States deductions. IRS Publication 502 does not limit deductible medical care to the United States. It allows transportation primarily for and essential to medical care, limits lodging to 50 dollars per night per person when the lodging is primarily for medical care, and generally excludes cosmetic surgery unless it corrects a deformity from a congenital abnormality, an injury or a disfiguring disease. Medicines bought in another country can be included only if the drug is legal in both countries, and medicines brought home from abroad generally cannot be included, so do not count take-home prescriptions. A package price that mixes medical and travel items is harder to document than an itemized clinic receipt. This is general information, not tax advice; ask a tax professional about your own return.
How to compare a package quote with a clinic estimate
Put the two documents side by side and list every item in each. For each line, mark whether it is medical (surgery, anesthesia, tests, recovery stay, follow-up, documents) or travel (flights, hotel, transfers, interpreter, meals).
Add up the medical lines only. That is the figure to compare between offers, because travel items can be bought separately at a known price. Then check four things the headline price hides: who treats a complication and who pays, whether follow-up after you return home is included, whether the interpreter is present during the consultation itself, and whether the documents you need for an insurance claim are part of the price.
Finally, ask who is responsible for your care. In a package, the agency arranges and the clinic treats. If something goes wrong, you want to know which of them you call. The NHS guidance on cosmetic surgery abroad makes the same point: understand who provides aftercare before you commit.
At Podo: what is decided at consultation
Whether the clinic offers any travel services, and what its written estimate covers, is stated in writing at consultation. The items a clinic estimate includes are listed on the pricing page. Payment can be made by international credit card. Payment by international bank transfer is also accepted.
Consultations are available in English. Medical records and receipts are issued in English on request. Two of the clinic's three OB-GYN specialists are women. Overnight stays are available in the clinic's recovery suites, and a video follow-up is scheduled after you return home. The clinic prepares the insurance documents described on the pricing page. Whether a procedure is reimbursed depends on your policy; the clinic provides documentation, not coverage decisions.
The clinic is on the second floor of a building on Gangnam-daero, near Gangnam Station. Where you stay is your decision. Whether the clinic works with any agency, whether airport pickup, an interpreter or hotel booking can be arranged, and whether any Korean tax refund applies are stated in writing at consultation. This page is general information and is not a diagnosis; a consultation is needed to decide whether a procedure suits you.
Questions
Can I buy a medical tourism package through Podo?
Whether the clinic offers any travel services, and what its written estimate covers, is stated in writing at consultation. The pricing page lists what a clinic estimate includes.
Is a package cheaper than booking a clinic directly?
Not necessarily. A package usually adds travel services and a facilitator's fee to the medical price. Compare the medical lines only, and ask the facilitator whether the clinic price would be the same if you booked directly.
Do I need a facilitator to communicate with a Korean clinic?
Not if the clinic consults in English. At Podo, consultations are available in English, and medical records and receipts are issued in English on request.
Does a package include treatment if something goes wrong?
Usually not. Treatment for complications is one of the most common exclusions. Ask who would treat a complication and who would pay before you sign.
Can I deduct a Korea surgery trip on my US taxes?
IRS Publication 502 does not limit deductible medical care to the United States. Transportation essential to medical care can be included, lodging is limited to 50 dollars per night per person, and most cosmetic surgery is excluded. Ask a tax professional about your situation.
Can you recommend a hotel?
The clinic is on the second floor of a building on Gangnam-daero, near Gangnam Station. Where you stay is your decision; whether the clinic books hotels on your behalf is confirmed at consultation.
Sources
About the reviewer
Dr. Mo Hyung-jin, MD, PhD, board-certified OB-GYN specialist, is the medical director of Podo Women's Clinic. He developed the pelvic ligament suspension technique used at the clinic for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Profile