Leaking Health Insurance Fees... 31.6 Billion KRW in Foreigners' Fraudulent Claims Over the Past 5 Years

United Future Party's Kang Ki-yoon: "Health Insurance Expenditure Ranks 1st... China Surpasses 2.4 Trillion"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] It has been revealed that the amount of fraudulent claims for domestic health insurance by foreigners amounts to 31.6 billion KRW.

In particular, health insurance benefit expenditures for foreigners who frequently visit Korea, such as those from China and Vietnam, were confirmed to have reached 3.4422 trillion KRW, increasing the burden on the citizens' insurance premiums.

According to data received on the 10th from National Health Insurance Service by Kang Ki-yoon, a member of the Future United Party in the National Assembly (Changwon Seongsan), the amount fraudulently received by foreigners through lending or misuse of health insurance cards and receiving benefits after disqualification has doubled in four years from 2015 to the end of June this year.

The amounts were 3.599 billion KRW in 2015, 2.891 billion KRW in 2016, 6.754 billion KRW in 2017, 9.086 billion KRW in 2018, 7.435 billion KRW last year, and 1.851 billion KRW this year, totaling 31.616 billion KRW over the recent five years and six months.

However, during the same period, the amount recovered from fraudulent claims was only 16.114 billion KRW, which is 51.7% of the total amount.

Additionally, during the same period, the amount paid in health insurance benefits to foreigners by country among the top 20 countries was highest for China at 2.4641 trillion KRW, accounting for 71.6% of the total 3.4422 trillion KRW, followed by Vietnam at 215.3 billion KRW, the United States at 183.2 billion KRW, and Taiwan at 77 billion KRW.

Regarding this, Representative Kang pointed out the need to create separate health insurance cards for foreigners to strengthen identity verification procedures and to establish a system that can verify and share eligibility in real time with medical institutions through cooperation with the National Health Insurance Service, immigration, and tax authorities.

Representative Kang said, "Some foreigners enter the country for medical purposes, receive insurance benefits through medical shopping in Korea, and then leave, or stay for a short period without the intention of continuous residence and receive support from the health insurance fund before returning," adding, "The residency period criterion for foreigners should be strengthened to at least one year."

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