How much I still have to pay out of pocket?

National Health Insurance covers a lot but you still pay a co-payment (본인부담금), and the share depends on where you go. At a local clinic you typically pay about 30% of the covered cost, with the rate rising at larger hospitals (around 40% at general hospitals and up to 60% at tertiary university hospitals without a referral), which is part of why the clinic-first system exists. The big catch is non-covered items (비급여) — certain MRIs, premium materials, private rooms, and cosmetic procedures — which you pay 100% out of pocket, so a bill can be higher than expected even with insurance. For serious illness there's a co-payment ceiling system (본인부담상한제) that refunds costs above an annual cap, and for severe diseases like cancer the covered co-pay drops to around 5%, so ask the hospital which parts are covered before you proceed.