94% of the loss is due to long-term departure or overseas migration... Poor collection management before departure
92% of foreigners caught receiving illegal benefits while staying abroad were concentrated last year... Regular inspection required
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seo Han-ki = It was found that the arrears of health insurance premiums for foreigners residing in Korea and overseas Koreans amounted to 37.5 billion won, and the amount written off as a deficit due to difficulty in collecting over the past five years amounted to 47.7 billion won.
It is pointed out that 94% of the loss disposal amount is due to long-term departure or overseas migration, and it is necessary to strengthen the management of collection of delinquent insurance premiums before departure.
According to the '2026 Public Institution Status and Issue Report' published by the National Assembly Budget Office on the 5th, the amount of delinquent health insurance premiums for foreigners and local subscribers of overseas Koreans as of the end of 2025 was 34,349 households, a total of 37.5 billion won.
Compared to 21,728 households and 26.4 billion won in 2021, the number of households increased by 58.1% and the amount in arrears increased by 42.0%. Most of the households in arrears were foreigners, amounting to 33,725 households, worth 34.4 billion won, while overseas Koreans accounted for 624 households, worth 3.1 billion won.
◇ Even with prior notice, only 20% of full payment is required... Loss of KRW 47.7 billion over 5 years due to departure, etc.
The amount of arrears is rapidly increasing, but the recovery mechanism is not working. The previous Health Insurance Act restricted benefits to delinquent foreigners without prior notice, but was ruled unconstitutional in 2023. Accordingly, starting in April 2025, the government revamped the procedure to send advance notice to those who have defaulted more than three times, give them a two-month deadline for full payment, and then limit benefits.
However, after the reorganization, performance was poor. By July 2026, the National Health Insurance Corporation sent notices to 1,448 foreigners who had defaulted on their taxes three or more times, but only 288 people (19.9%) paid their arrears in full. The number of people whose salaries were actually restricted was only 137 (9.5%). For the remaining 1,023 people (70.6%), neither full payment nor salary restrictions have been achieved, but even the processing status, such as whether the notice has not been received or the payment deadline is in progress, is not clearly confirmed.
A significant amount of uncollected insurance premiums is written off as a loss due to reasons such as long-term departure or overseas migration.
Deficit dispositions for foreigners and overseas Koreans increased rapidly from 1,520 cases (KRW 400 million) in 2021 to 55,712 cases (KRW 19.9 billion) in 2024 and 47,503 cases (KRW 18 billion) in 2025. Over the past five years, the accumulated deficit disposal amounted to 134,505 cases, amounting to 47.7 billion won. This is the result of the number of people eligible for deficits exceeding 3 years since leaving the country, which is a requirement for national health insurance, starting in 2023 after the implementation of natural health insurance for foreigners in July 2019. Among the reasons for deficits over the past five years, long-term departure and overseas migration accounted for 130,650 cases, or 45 billion won, or 94.3% in terms of value. If the three-year statute of limitations expires after the disposition of deficit, collection cannot be made even if the property is discovered, so it is urgent to establish a collection device before leaving the country.
◇ Identity theft and illegal payment of people leaving overseas… 90% focus on flash inspection in 2025
There are also many cases of fraudulent receipt of health insurance using the status of foreigners who have gone abroad. Under current law, when a health insurance subscriber leaves the country by plane, health insurance benefits in Korea are immediately suspended while staying abroad. However, it is known that there are cases of identity theft where foreign workers' alien registration cards and health insurance qualifications left behind when returning to their home country or going abroad are taken over by other acquaintances or unqualified compatriots staying in Korea and receive hospital treatment. It also happens that an acquaintance remaining in the country obtains prescriptions for expensive chronic disease medications in the name of a person leaving the country and sends them overseas.
During the period of salary suspension from 2021 to June 2026, a total of 15,906 cases of unfair receipt of benefits were detected, amounting to 1,158.51 million won. Of these, 8,405 cases of illegal payments due to staying abroad amounted to 351.63 million won, and most of them, 7669 cases (307.54 million won), were in the name of foreigners. In particular, 68.7% of the illegal benefits for foreigners staying abroad were claimed in the name of employed subscribers whose qualifications should have been suspended due to departure from their home country.
Another problem is that detection results are focused only on specific periods. From 2021 to 2024, the number of cases of foreigners illegally receiving benefits while staying abroad was limited to 50 to 134 cases per year, but in 2025 alone, 7,014 cases and 275.9 million won were detected. In 2025, performance in just one year reached 91.5% of the total number of cases detected and 89.7% of the amount. This shows the need to check whether the regular verification system is operating sufficiently.
The National Assembly Budget Office pointed out, "To prevent the delinquent insurance premiums of foreigners and overseas Koreans from disappearing as deficits after departure, collection management before departure must be strengthened, and a management network must be established to regularly check changes in overseas residence status and execute benefit suspensions in a timely manner."
