Starting from April of this year, foreigners and overseas Koreans must reside in the country for at least six months to be eligible for health insurance as dependent beneficiaries.
According to the National Health Insurance Service on Jan. 24, a revision to the Health Insurance Act will take effect from April 3, imposing additional conditions for foreigners and overseas Koreans to qualify as dependent beneficiaries. In addition to meeting the criteria related to their relationship with employed subscribers as well as income and property requirements, they must now have a domestic residency period of at least six months.
The amendment is aimed at preventing situations where relatives of foreigners come to the country temporarily to be listed as dependent beneficiaries only when necessary for medical procedures or treatment, and then leave the country after receiving care.
In such cases, however, there is a possibility of unintended consequences, such as the family members of diplomats or employees of foreign companies residing in the country being unable to benefit from domestic health insurance.
Therefore, health authorities have allowed immediate access to health benefits for dependent beneficiaries who are spouses or children under 19 years old. Additionally, individuals with residency statuses such as study (D-2), general training for elementary, middle, and high school students (D-4-3), non-professional employment (E-9), permanent residency (F-5), and marriage immigration (F-6) are eligible to receive health benefits promptly if they have a valid reason for residence.
Dependent beneficiaries are individuals who primarily depend on their employed children or family members for their livelihood. Currently, there is no discrimination in the eligibility criteria for becoming dependent beneficiaries, whether they are Korean nationals or foreigners.
If individuals meet the income criteria, property criteria, and dependent support criteria set by the health authorities, they can register their family members as dependent beneficiaries without discrimination. This applies to both Korean nationals who are employed subscribers and foreign employees working for domestically based companies.