South Korea's foreign health insurance posts first trillion-won surplus, China account turns deficit

The National Health Insurance Service disclosed that foreign-resident contributions generated a surplus of over 1 trillion won in the most recent fiscal year, marking the first time the account broke that threshold and continuing a surplus streak since 2017. Premiums collected from foreigners totaled 2.54 trillion won, while the NHIS paid out 1.52 trillion won in medical costs. The Chinese-national segment, however, slipped into a deficit of roughly 40.9 billion won after a small surplus the year before, with premiums of 956.4 billion won against payouts of 997.3 billion won.

Vietnam, Nepal and Indonesia posted the biggest individual surpluses, at 160.1 billion, 126.2 billion and 91.8 billion won respectively. The government has tightened rules since 2019, requiring foreigners staying six months or more to enroll, and further limited dependent registration for overseas Koreans in 2024. Opposition lawmakers are now urging reciprocity measures that would align foreign coverage with benefits South Koreans receive abroad.