Increase in foreign residents required to sign up to the state program in 2024 is accelerating
An increasing number of foreign nationals are required to join South Korea’s state-run health insurance program between 2020 and 2024, reflecting the growing population of longer-term foreign residents.
The number of Koreans who are signed up, however, is decreasing due to the country’s record-low birth rate.
According to data from the National Health Insurance Service submitted to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, 59,662 Vietnamese and 56,425 Chinese nationals were newly added to the National Health Insurance system in 2024. This represents a sharp rise from 2020, when 13,714 Vietnamese and 30,129 Chinese nationals were added.
According to an October report by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, there were 1.93 million foreign nationals residing in Korea for at least three months as of 2023. It marked the highest figure since the governmental tally began in 2006, and was up 10.4 percent from the year before.
Vietnamese and Chinese nationals were the two biggest groups of foreigners living here.
The Korean population in the country have been declining since 51.82 million in 2020, marking 51.17 million as of April of this year.
"The number of Koreans eligible for the health insurance is shrinking due to issues like low fertility, yet the foreigners are rising. There needs to be a comprehensive measure to account for the changing situation," Rep. Kim said.
Korean law states that foreign nationals who have resided here for at least six months are required to subscribe to the state-run health insurance program, with few exceptions granted to those with F-6 marriage migrant visa.
Rep. Kim stressed that the new administration to be formed after the June 3 presidential election must consider adopting a "reciprocal" health care policy for foreigners.
She, in January, along with 25 other lawmakers, proposed a revision to the law that would make foreign nationals from countries that do not offer health care benefits equivalent to Korea's ineligible to enroll in Korea's health insurance or be registered as a beneficiary.
The proposal said this was to prevent foreign nationals from briefly visiting Korea for the sole purpose of taking advantage of the insurance coverage. However a law passed under the Moon administration required a minimum stay of 6 months for independent subscribers, and legislation passed under the Yoon administration closed a loophole for dependents.
It said that Chinese nationals in 2023 received 874.3 billion won ($624.3 million) in benefits while paying in 810.3 billion won in subscription fees.
In 2024, 17,087 foreign nationals unlawfully received benefits from the state insurance program, garnering 2.55 billion won in total.
However other data shows foreign subscribers to be net contributors to the system. In 2023, foreign subscribers paid 2.04 trillion won ($1.47 billion) in fees, while receiving 1.27 trillion won in benefits, according to National Health Insurance Service data released last year by Rep. Nam In-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
