The financial balance of health insurance reimbursement with Chinese nationals has shown a deficit of 418.1 billion won ($310.6 million) since 2018.

Rep. Choi Young-hee of the People Power Party analyzed the National Health Insurance Service (NHID)'s "Status of Health Insurance Premium Charges and Benefit Costs by Foreign Nationality” since 2017, and released its results on Tuesday.

According to Choi, among the top 10 countries with the highest number of foreign subscribers, NHID sustained a deficit only with Chinese nationals.

More specifically, insurance premiums imposed on Chinese subscribers amounted to 376.6 billion won but reimbursement totaled 527.5 billion won in 2018, resulting in a deficit of 150.9 billion won. The red-ink figure was followed by deficits of 98.7 billion won in 2019, 23.9 billion won in 2020, 10.9 billion won in 2021, and 22.9 billion won in 2022.

The deficit was caused by more medical fees by the Korean state health insurance agency than the premiums it received from Chinese subscribers.

Besides, eight out of the top 10 recipients of health benefits were Chinese, with six of them being the dependents of subscribers. Chinese in their 60s, who benefited the most, received 4.39 billion won worth of medical treatment. They made NHID shoulder 3.95 billion won, paying only 440 million won out of their pockets.

Some foreigners even registered as many as 10 dependents per subscription.

"Health insurance is a valuable asset that protects the health of the Korean citizens," Choi said. “Foreigners’ free-riding on state health insurance at the expense of the Korean people must be rectified."

As of May 2023, the number of foreign health insurance subscribers was 1,364,680, excluding overseas Koreans, with 734,214 enrolled at work and 630,466 enrolled in their residential areas.