Stricter health insurance criteria for foreign nationals to start in April

Seen is a National Health Insurance Service center in Jongno District, Seoul, Jan. 5. Yonhap

Korea plans to tighten criteria on national health insurance coverage for foreign nationals' dependents in order to control insurance expenditures and screen indiscreet abuses of the state health care system.

The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said Wednesday that dependents of foreign nationals here as well as Koreans living overseas, will be required to reside in Korea for more than six months to qualify for state health insurance coverage, under the revised National Health Insurance Act, which will take effect from April 3.

Before the revision, dependents – either foreign or Korean nationals who are a spouse, child or other immediate family member of a salaried worker — were eligible for health benefits regardless of their duration of stay here, as long as they meet certain criteria based on as the workers' income and assets.

The revised policy aims to prevent so-called "freeriders" from exploiting the insurance system who come to Korea only to receive health care benefits when they get ill.

To prevent the revision from excluding family members of diplomats or businesspeople from the insurance benefits upon their arrival here, the regulation will allow minors (those aged under 19), spouses, as well as foreign nationals obtaining D-2 or D-4-3 student visas, E-9 migrant worker visas, F-5 permanent resident visas and F-6 marriage visas to immediately recieve the health care benefits.

In addition, the dependents will be required to report any income and assets and provide certification of family ties.

The new measures come amid the health authorities’ continuous efforts to modify eligibility standards for dependents to make the health care benefits more available to those who are in genuine need.

In September 2022, the NHIS lowered the yearly income standard for dependents to 20 million won ($14,936) from 34 million won from July 2018. Also, those with assets surpassing 900 million won or those with assets over 540 million won with yearly income of 10 million won have been disqualified from receiving insurance dependent benefits.