Foreigners coming from 20 countries have received 3.44 trillion won ($3.04 billion) in benefits from Korea’s state health insurance agency between 2015 and the first half of this year. Among the total, some 31.6 billion won has been paid through frauds, errors and abuses.

Rep. Kang Gi-yun of the opposition People Power Party made these and other points in a report released on Thursday based on the Ministry of Health and Welfare data.

Kang’s report came after the ministry raised health insurance premiums by 3.49 percent and 3.20 percent last and this year.  

“Some foreigners illegally received health insurance benefits by borrowing or stealing insurance cards after being disqualified for the coverage over the past five and a half years,” Kang said. “Only 16.1 billion won, or 51 percent of the fraudulent benefits have been retrieved.”

Chinese residents in Korea were the largest beneficiaries, receiving 2.46 trillion won in benefits, or 71.6 percent of the total, followed by Vietnamese (215.3 billion won), Americans (183.2 billion won), Taiwanese (77 billion won), and Uzbeks (71.9 billion won). 

Kang called for strengthening the identification process by issuing separate health insurance cards for foreigners and creating a system, which allows for real-time verification and sharing of eligibility with medical institutions in cooperation with immigration and tax authorities.

"Some foreigners enter Korea for treatment and enjoy medical shopping here and return home," Rep. Kang said. "The national health insurance is supposed to cover only Koreans, but some foreigners are making the most of the rule that gives benefits to foreigners staying here for six months or longer.”

The government needs to extend the minimum duration to a year or longer, he added.