A Chinese man in his 30s entered Korea in February of last year. As soon as he arrived, he immediately registered as a dependent on his father’s health insurance, who was working in Korea, and received a total of 42 treatments including brain tumor tests. The National Health Insurance Corporation covered a total of ￦19.5 million for these treatments (US$1=￦1338). This Chinese individual who received the treatment returned to his home country three months later.
Cases of registering as dependents of foreigners working in Korea to exploit substantial health insurance benefits and then returning to their home countries, known as “health insurance ‘eat and run’,” are on the rise. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 22nd, the number of foreigners covered by health insurance increased from 1.21 million at the end of 2019 to 1.32 million at the end of last year, showing an increase of 110,000 in three years. In the case of foreign workers in Korea, not only spouses and children, but also parents, siblings, and even in-laws can be enrolled as dependents. Dependents receive the same health insurance benefits as Koreans without restrictions such as residence period or permanent residency. Exploiting these regulations, many foreigners are taking advantage of short-term “intensive treatments” in the country before departing.
A Vietnamese man in his 50s came to Korea in May last year. He registered as a dependent on his son-in-law’s health insurance on the day of his arrival. He immediately received six medical treatments for cerebral infarction and returned to Vietnam a month later. The National Health Insurance Corporation covered a total of ￦13.1 million for the treatments.
In various online communities from foreign countries, one can easily find posts delving into the weaknesses of Korea’s health insurance system and discussing tactics like “How to Utilize Korean Health Insurance.” On a Chinese website, there was a post titled “Sharing the Method of Linking Family Members to (Korean) Health Insurance.” This post contained information such as “By only paying insurance premiums for one family member, the entire family can share the benefits” and “You can save at least several millions of won per year.”
An actual case involved a Chinese individual who nearly spent ￦100 million in the health insurance funds. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, a male in his 50s from China entered Korea in April 2020 and enrolled in health insurance as a dependent of his son-in-law. After receiving treatment for liver disease and other conditions, he returned to China the following year. The amount covered by the National Health Insurance Corporation was around 900 million won. As of 2021, health insurance subscribers with Chinese nationality accounted for the highest number among all foreigners at 660,000, making up 53 percent of the total. The accumulated deficit incurred from health insurance coverage for the Chinese over the past three years has reached ￦133.5 billion. President Yoon Suk-yeol stated, “There are cases where foreign workers have 7 to 10 people registered as their dependents. A Chinese individual gained health insurance benefits worth 3.3 billion won under dependent status,” promising that this issue will be addressed.
In addition, a male in his 60s with Canadian nationality entered Korea in October of last year, registered as a dependent, received treatment for cardiac arrhythmia, and left the country after three months. The amount covered by the National Health Insurance Corporation was around ￦17.2 million. An American man in his 80s who entered Korea in May of last year registered as a dependent through his daughter-in-law, received treatment for chronic kidney disease (with a coverage of ￦4.2 million), and departed after one month.
There is no precise statistical data on the exact scale of “health insurance ‘eat and run’” by some foreigner dependents. An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that “over the past three years, the average amount of health insurance funds spent by foreign dependents who entered Korea and utilized the system within 6 months is approximately ￦5.7 billion.” While it cannot be said that all of this money is being misused, a substantial portion of the annual health insurance budget of around ￦10 billion seems to be consumed, suggesting misuse.
To prevent this, lawmakers Joo Ho-young and Song Eon-seok of the People’s Power Party, proposed an amendment to the National Health Insurance Act in 2021, requiring foreign dependents to have a domestic residency period of at least 6 months to be eligible for health insurance benefits. Although the Ministry of Welfare persuaded both ruling and opposition parties to process the bill, it has not yet been properly discussed in the National Assembly. If this law is passed, the health insurance eligibility criteria for around 9,800 foreign dependents per year would be strengthened. An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that “the overall health insurance finances for foreign nationals in the country are in surplus” and that “the issue lies with certain dependents.”
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