Postpartum care centers requiring massage bookings to face probe, minister says

Minister of Health and Welfare Jeong Eun-kyeong said Tuesday that the government would investigate add-on service fees at postpartum care centers — including massage packages — and make the findings public.

The pledge came after Rep. Baek Seon-hui of the Rebuilding Korea Party raised the issue at the Ministry of Health and Welfare's comprehensive national audit before the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee. Baek said postpartum care centers have been raising their rates in step with the government's expanded cash-based childbirth support payments, and that some facilities require expectant mothers to purchase expensive add-on services such as massages before accepting a reservation.

In response, Jeong said the ministry would conduct a probe into the add-on services and "prepare a plan to disclose the results so the public can be informed."

She added that the ministry would work with the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Fair Trade Commission to address unfair trade practices — including facilities refusing reservations from customers who decline the add-on services — and would explore options for price controls, acknowledging that direct price regulation "is not easy."

The ministry currently surveys and publishes postpartum care center prices twice a year. Starting this year, it also introduced a rating system evaluating the quality and safety of postpartum care services, with the first results set to be announced soon.

Meanwhile, Jeong said the ministry would also review bringing obesity treatment injections under a managed benefit category, tightening government oversight of the drugs, which are currently classified as non-covered services.

At the same audit, Rep. Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party of Korea raised concerns about the indiscriminate prescribing and misuse of obesity drugs, arguing that "beyond crackdowns, it is urgent to bring them into the public insurance system and establish long-term management measures" by placing them in the managed benefit category.

Responding to Nam, Jeong said the ministry would "include them in the managed benefit review framework for consideration."