By Kim Hyun-bin
Opposition is growing over a government plan to slap public health promotion taxes on alcoholic products in an effort to expand national health insurance funds as alcohol-related diseases are covered by insurance.
More people appear skeptical about whether the tax will help enhance public health and increase insurance funds, believing the measure will only raise the price of alcoholic beverages.
Last month, the National Health Insurance Corp. (NHIC) brainstormed ideas to better expand the insurance fund to minimize insurance premium hikes.
Placing public health promotion taxes on alcoholic products was one of the ideas raised at the meeting. Currently, cigarettes are taxed 841 won ($.75) for each pack as a public health promotion fee. The fee is a kind of “sin tax” because national health insurance covers treatments of patients with smoking-related diseases.
Some experts say alcohol, just like cigarettes, needs to be subject to public health promotion taxes because alcohol is a source of many diseases that should be covered by the insurance and the taxes will be able to reduce the premium burden on non-drinkers.
“Alcohol damages public health more than cigarettes, so we need to hurry and discuss measures to place public health promotion taxes on alcohol,” NHIC President Kim Yong-ik said.
According to a report released by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in 2016, over 6.17 trillion won has been spent each year in alcohol-related social expenses.
However, many are against the taxes on alcoholic beverages.
“I don't know how much the government spent on public health after raising cigarette prices,” said Choi, a Seoul resident in his 40s. “This is the government's trick to empty out commoners' pockets.”
A blogger also said, “The government doesn't need to worry about my health; I'll take care of my health myself.”
Currently, alcohol prices include alcohol tax, educational taxes and value added taxes (VAT). Experts believe when the public health promotion fee is added, prices of alcoholic products could surge up to 30 percent.
“After a hard day's work, meeting friends and colleagues for a drink is my only delight, but the taxes will make it more difficult for commoners to enjoy this as the price of alcohol will go up,” Lee Yong-jin in his 30s said.
In recent years, the National Assembly has tried to slap health promotion taxes on alcoholic goods, but the attempts have fallen through due to strong public opposition.
Many experts believe the government will push for taxes on alcohol because the Moon Jae-in administration seeks to have most medical treatments, excluding plastic surgery for beauty purposes, covered by the national health insurance by 2022. The cost to finance the insurance is estimated at 30 trillion won by that time.
Last year, the NHIC saw a surplus, but many experts expect a deficit of 1.1 trillion won for this year and 3.7 trillion won for next year.