8.35 Million People Nationwide to Receive Half Reduction on Three Months of Health Insurance Premiums

Ministry of Health and Welfare's Supplementary Budget of 265.6 Billion KRW to Support Health Insurance

▲National Health Insurance Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The bottom 20% of health insurance subscribers who pay lower premiums will receive a 50% discount on their health insurance premiums each month for three months from this month through May. Residents of Daegu and Gyeongsan, Cheongdo, and Bonghwa in Gyeongbuk, designated as special disaster areas due to the COVID-19 outbreak, are eligible for discounts up to the bottom 50%.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 25th that it has prepared a "Revised Notice on Health Insurance Premium Reduction Recipients" reflecting these details and has posted it for administrative notice until the 1st of next month. This revision was made following the confirmation of 265.6 billion KRW in health insurance premium support funds secured through the recent supplementary budget. The premiums for March, which have already been billed, will be retroactively supported when the April premiums are billed.

This measure will support 8.35 million people nationwide, including 6.02 million workplace subscribers and 2.33 million regional subscribers. Households residing in special disaster areas will see an average monthly premium reduction of 41,207 KRW, while other areas will see an average reduction of 31,306 KRW per month. The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that subscribers who were already receiving other premium reductions will receive additional support on the premiums after applying the existing reductions.

Additionally, for workplace subscribers, half of the premium is paid by the subscriber and the other half by the employer. Since the supplementary budget reduction applies to the total premium for workplace subscribers, the employer's share will also be reduced accordingly. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service plan to send individual notices to each eligible recipient early next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.