Over the past five years, the number of dependents of wage earners with health insurance has decreased by nearly 15 percent among Koreans. On the other hand, the number of foreigners has remained the same at around 190,000.

According to data submitted by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the ruling People Power Party, there were 195,201 dependents, including spouses and children, of foreign workers at the end of last year. The number remained similar compared to 195,423 at the end of 2020.

On the other hand, the number of dependents of Korean employees decreased by 14.8 percent from 18.4 million at the end of 2020 to 15.6 million at the end of last year due to a declining birthrate and population aging.

Under the National Health Insurance Act, dependents of employed members must meet certain income and property requirements to qualify. Foreigners are eligible for health insurance if they meet specific requirements, including whether they work at a business, their status of residence, and the length of their stay, and their spouses can apply to the NHIS to become dependents.

However, unlike Koreans, it is difficult to verify the income and assets of foreigners, so there is a problem with equity, experts point out. In addition, there are cases where foreign employees enroll their family members living abroad as dependents, leading to controversy over free riding.

“In the current situation where dependent requirements are loose, free-riding controversies are inevitable, which can adversely affect health insurance finances,” Rep. Kim said. “The new government should thoroughly examine the requirements for registering foreign dependents and comprehensively review the entire system from an equity perspective.”