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What is the National Health Insurance?

The National Health Insurance Corporation(NHIC) is the only public insurer managing the National Health

Insurance under the supervision of the Ministry of Health & Welfare, the Republic of Korea. The insured of

NHI can be categorized into the employee insured and the self-employed insured. The NHI is the system

of which the contributions made by the insured persons are consolidated into a fund and insurance

benefits are provided upon their need. The system aims to share the burden among the insured persons

and provide medical services.

Coverage

Covering total population, the Health Insurance System of Korea constitutes one of major parts of the

Korean social insurance system. Enrollment is mandatory for Koreans residing in the Korean territory,

except for some Medical Aid beneficiaries.

The insured persons under the National Health Insurance Program are classified into two population

categories : the employed insured and the self-employed insured.

In Oct. 2003, the total number of persons covered by the NHI reached over 47 million, or 97.0 % of the total

population. The remaining 3.0%, 1.4 million, who are indigent or belong to low-income brackets, are

covered by the Medical Aid Program, a Korean social assistance program.

Contribution

Health(medical) insurance is withheld every month by the amount of 4.31% (2.155% is employee's burden,

another 2.155% is company's burden for the year 2005) of standard salary. Standard salary usually is

stable within the year. There is no maximum standard salary like National pension, so there is no upper

limitation for the contribution amount.

The national health insurance is financed from the contributions paid by the insured and their employers,

and government subsidies. As the national health insurance program is run as a social insurance program,

the contributions from the insured are the major source of its revenue of the program.

With the Integration Reform implemented, the health insurance program is being operated by a single

insurer, the NHIC. Even though the organizational integration had been fully achieved in July 2000, the

pooling of insurance finances between the funds of employees and those of the self-employed was

adopted just on July 1, 2003, which had been managed separately until then.

Payment of the Contributions

The payment of contributions is the responsibility of employers and all members of households. They are

required to pay their monthly contribution by the 10th day of the following month. In the case of any failure

of payment, the insurer (NHIC) could carry out coercive collection in accordance with the relevant

provisions of the law.

Conditions for Enrollment

Those who have registered as foreigners at the Immigration Bureau and meet one of the following

conditions can make apply for the enrollment of national health insurance at the NHIC

For the employee insured :

those who are the employers or the employees of work places;

For the self-employed insured :

those who excluded from the employee insured and have one of following residence status : F-2, F-4, D-1∼9, E-1∼5,

E-7∼8, F-1(spouses and children of Korean nationals) and those who are the spouses and children under 20 years of

age of foreigners.

Enrollment procedures and required documents

For the employee insured :

The foreign workers shall make an application for the enrollment to the employer of the work place who are responsible for

remitting the application at NHIC with the required documents. The enrollment is retroactive to the date he/she employed.

For the self-employed insured :

The foreigner shall make an application for the enrollment with the certificate of foreigner registration and the passport at the

nearest NHIC office in his/her residential area. The enrollment is retroactive to the date he/she registered his residence in

Korea.

Imposition of contributions and payment

The employee insured

The Contribution amount shall be calculated by 「monthly salary contribution rate 」and be deducted from the monthly salary

(50% of which are paid by the employer). The duty of the payment is retroactive to the date he/she was employed

The self-employed insured

The Contribution amount for those who have income shall be calculated by 「monthly income contribution rate 」, and for

those who have no income shall be the amount of the「Average monthly contributions of the self-employed in preceding

year」. The duty of the payment is retroactive to the date he/she registered his/her residence in Korea.

Insurance Benefits

The benefit package for foreigner is as same as that for Korean nationals. When the insured person and

the dependents, no matter what they are foreigners or Korean nationals, get health care service at the

health care facilities, they have to pay only amount as follows;

For treatment at the hospitals and medical clinics:

20%∼50% of the total charges applicable by NHI

For prescription drugs filled at the pharmacy :

30% of the total charges applicable by NHI