Chinese subscribers cause health insurance deficit

A woman waits for treatment at Inje University Seoul Paik Hospital in downtown Seoul, June 12. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho

By Lee Yeon-woo

Foreign subscribers paid more into the health insurance system than the benefits they received last year, but when it comes to Chinese subscribers, the benefits surpassed their payments.

According to data the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) submitted to Rep. Nam In-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea on Wednesday, health insurance reached a deficit of 22.9 billion won ($17.5 million) for subscribers of Chinese nationality.

This contrasts with the overall surplus of 556 billion won for foreign subscribers. Foreign nationals, including overseas Koreans, paid 1.79 trillion won in insurance premiums and received benefits totaling 1.23 trillion won.

However, the deficit's scale is on a downward trend. The deficit in health insurance involving Chinese nationals peaked in 2018 at 150.9 billion won, but it has been declining steadily to 98.7 billion won in 2019, 23.9 billion won in 2020 and 10.9 billion won in 2021.

The rebound last year can be interpreted as a result of China reopening its borders.

Nevertheless, the overall reduction in the NHIS' financial deficit is due largely to the improvements made to its system over several years. Since July 2019, the government required foreign nationals to subscribe to local health insurance unless they are ensured by companies or are dependent family members.

Under the current system, those insured by companies can enroll family members as dependents if they meet certain requirements, regardless of nationality. However, the NHIS has identified cases where some foreign nationals enroll their distant relatives as dependents and exploit the system ― entering Korea to receive treatment and then immediately departing.

Health insurance authorities thus plan to further refine the system for foreign dependents in the future.