{"id":2207023,"date":"2024-11-05T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T23:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2207023"},"modified":"2024-11-04T17:39:06","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T08:39:06","slug":"koreas-health-system-looks-to-foreign-workers-for-new-premium-contributions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/11\/koreas-health-system-looks-to-foreign-workers-for-new-premium-contributions\/","title":{"rendered":"Korea\u2019s health system looks to foreign workers for new premium contributions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea\u2019s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yna.co.kr\/view\/AKR20241101052500530\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reportedly considering<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> imposing health insurance premiums on income from temporary or casual labor, including both domestic and foreign workers. This reported policy shift seeks to address mounting pressures on the health insurance fund, driven by the dual challenges of an aging population and declining birth rate. Temporary labor income \u2014 traditionally exempt due to its association with economically vulnerable groups \u2014 currently allows a significant number of high-earning day laborers to avoid contributing to the health insurance system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data reportedly shows that 458,000 foreign workers in temporary roles earned about $6.5 billion (9 trillion won) in 2023. By bringing temporary laborers into the premium pool, the NHIS reportedly aims to secure new funding sources and strengthen the financial sustainability of the health insurance system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>WHY IT MATTERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government\u2019s focus on taxing temporary labor income \u2014 especially foreign workers \u2014 appears more politically symbolic than a genuine attempt to make South Korea\u2019s health insurance more sustainable. While bringing high-earning day laborers into the premium pool may provide additional revenue, it falls short of addressing the NHIS\u2019 core fiscal challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although the South Korean government <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mohw.go.kr\/board.es?mid=a10503010100&amp;bid=0027&amp;act=view&amp;list_no=1483034&amp;tag=&amp;nPage=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in September that the national health insurance system has a $20 billion (27 trillion won) reserve to justify its decision to freeze the premium rate at 7.09% for 2025, healthcare costs have been rising. The National Assembly Budget Office <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/korea.nabo.go.kr\/naboEng\/bbs\/BMSR00154\/view.do?boardId=3225&amp;menuNo=17700026&amp;pageIndex=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Oct. 2023 that if current trends persist, the NHIS\u2019 cumulative reserves may be depleted by 2028.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nonetheless, this shift may raise costs and compliance burdens for businesses, especially those that rely on temporary labor, such as the construction sector.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/business-economy\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Business &amp; Economy<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/domestic-politics\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Domestic Politics<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korea\u2019s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) is reportedly considering imposing health insurance premiums on income from temporary or casual labor, including both domestic and foreign workers. This reported policy shift seeks to address mounting pressures on the health insurance fund, driven by the dual challenges of an aging population and declining birth rate. Temporary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2207024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[24,27],"class_list":["post-2207023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-business-economy","tag-domestic-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Korea\u2019s health system looks to foreign workers for new premium contributions - KOREA PRO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/11\/koreas-health-system-looks-to-foreign-workers-for-new-premium-contributions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Korea\u2019s health system looks to foreign workers for new premium contributions - KOREA PRO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korea\u2019s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) is reportedly considering imposing health insurance premiums on income from temporary or casual labor, including both domestic and foreign workers. This reported policy shift seeks to address mounting pressures on the health insurance fund, driven by the dual challenges of an aging population and declining birth rate. 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