Human Rights Commission: "Foreigners Paying Health Insurance Premiums Should Maintain Enrollment Even If Their Residency Status Changes"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has determined that foreigners who have entered the country with long-term stay status and enrolled in the National Health Insurance should be allowed to maintain their health insurance eligibility even if their stay status changes.

On the 25th, the Human Rights Commission announced that it recommended the Minister of Health and Welfare and the President of the National Health Insurance Service to improve related regulations so that foreigners who have become subscribers to the health insurance can maintain their eligibility even if their stay status changes to one that does not allow health insurance enrollment.

Petitioner A entered the country in 2015 as a migrant worker under the Employment Permit System and paid insurance premiums for five years while enrolled in workplace health insurance. In June last year, A’s employment permit stay status expired, but due to unpaid wages, A stayed under the Other (G-1) stay status. When A inquired with the National Health Insurance Service about maintaining or re-enrolling in health insurance, the request was denied because foreigners with Other stay status cannot become regional subscribers. Consequently, A filed a petition with the Human Rights Commission in November last year.

In response, the National Health Insurance Service stated to the Human Rights Commission, "The Other stay status is a short-term stay status recognized by the Minister of Justice due to certain reasons, and allowing health insurance enrollment could undermine the social solidarity principle, which is the basic principle of health insurance. There is also a risk of abuse of the application for this stay status to enroll in health insurance, so it was excluded from eligibility."

However, the Human Rights Commission viewed that if a long-term foreign resident who has been paying contributions as a health insurance subscriber loses eligibility and cannot receive coverage simply because their stay status changed, it would undermine the social solidarity principle of health insurance. Furthermore, since the reasons for granting the Other stay status are clearly defined and it is only granted to those recognized by the Minister of Justice, the Commission judged that there is little risk of abuse in applying for health insurance enrollment.

Nonetheless, the Human Rights Commission dismissed A’s petition because the health insurance system is not subject to investigation under the National Human Rights Commission Act, and instead decided to issue a policy recommendation to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service.

The Commission explained, "Although long-term foreign residents with employment-related stay status have fulfilled their obligation to pay contributions according to their ability during their authorized stay period, restricting regional health insurance enrollment due to a change in stay status is inconsistent with the purpose of the health insurance system and may create blind spots in medical coverage, so improvements are necessary."

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