Korea's medical insurance system

 We will brief you on the health insurance system in Korea.

Korea's health insurance system is a social security system that aims to improve national health and promote social security by providing insurance benefits for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, childbirth, death, and health promotion of people's diseases or injuries. system.

This system was implemented step by step from 1977 and expanded to all citizens in 1989. In 2000, the National Health Insurance Corporation was established to collect insurance premiums and provide insurance benefits as an insurer.

Currently, Korea's health insurance system is divided into local subscribers and workplace subscribers, and subscribers and their families can receive necessary medical services at medical institutions. However, some non-benefit items must be borne by the person.

Korea's health insurance system is evaluated to provide high-quality medical services at an affordable price among advanced countries, but there is also a problem in that the coverage rate is low and co-payments are high. To improve this, the government is pushing for measures to increase the coverage rate and lower co-payments.

We will compare the health insurance system of other countries.

Health insurance systems in other countries can be largely divided into social insurance and individual insurance. The social insurance method is a method in which the state or public corporation collects insurance premiums and provides insurance benefits, and Germany, Japan, and France fall into this category. The individual insurance method is a method in which individuals sign a contract with an insurance company for their medical expenses and pay insurance premiums.

The social insurance method can reduce medical poverty due to its high coverage and accessibility, but it can cause insurance premium burden and financial problems. The individual insurance method can increase efficiency and diversity through market competition, but it can cause medical gaps and high costs according to income level.

Korea operates under the social insurance system. Compared to other social insurance systems, Korea has the following characteristics.

Germany: Employers and workers pay premiums differently, implicitly performing an income redistribution function. The co-payment is relatively low at 10%, and there are few non-salary items.

Japan: There are regional subscribers and employee subscribers, and insurance premiums are calculated according to the person's income level. The co-payment is 10-30% higher than in Korea, and there are many non-salary items.

France: Provide psychological stability to residents by raising the benefit rate to 100% in case of health crisis. The co-payment is 20-40%, which is similar to Korea, and there are not a few non-salary items.

Comparison with other countries' health insurance systems ends here. thank you 😊

 

We will inform you about whether foreigners can receive health insurance benefits in Korea.

Foreigners who receive health insurance benefits in Korea are divided into three categories: employee subscribers, dependents of employee subscribers, and local subscribers, just like Koreans1. Foreigners residing in Korea must be employed or have stayed for more than six months to be eligible for health insurance, and their dependents will receive health insurance benefits regardless of status or period when they enter Korea.

However, the health insurance premiums paid by foreign subscribers are higher than the amount received from insurance benefits. As of 2020, the health insurance premium paid by foreign subscribers was KRW 1,541.7 billion, and the amount of insurance benefits received was KRW 954.2 billion. Therefore, foreign subscribers' health insurance financial balance was in the black of 587.5 billion won.

This is the information on whether foreigners can receive health insurance benefits in Korea. thank you 😊