The Reason Why the Number of Health Insurance Dependents Decreased by 2.37 Million in 5 Years

If You Earn Over 20 Million KRW Annually, You Will Be Switched to Regional Subscribers to Filter Out Free Riders
From 20 Million in 2016 to Around 17 Million in June 2022

[Asia Economy Reporter Bang Je-il] The number of dependents who enjoy insurance premium benefits paid by family members working at a workplace without paying health insurance premiums themselves has decreased by about 2.37 million over the past five years.

Dependents are people who mainly rely on children or family members working at a workplace for their livelihood, and they have been free riders by enjoying insurance benefits without paying premiums under the health insurance workplace subscribers. In response, the government has tightened the eligibility criteria for dependents to filter out free riders in order to maintain the financial soundness of health insurance, resulting in a significant decrease in the number of dependents in recent years.

According to the "2022 First Half Health Insurance Elderly Long-term Care Insurance Major Statistics" by the National Health Insurance Service on the 18th, the number of dependents was 23.307 million in 2016 and 20.609 million in 2017, maintaining the 20 million mark.

However, the number fell below 20 million to 19.51 million in 2018, then decreased to 19.104 million in 2019, dropped to 18.607 million in 2020, falling to the 18 million mark. From 18.09 million in 2021, it further declined to 17.965 million as of June 2022, dropping to the 17 million mark. As of June 2022, the number of dependents decreased by 2.372 million, or 11.6%, over five years and six months compared to 2016.

Accordingly, the support ratio (number of dependents per workplace subscriber), which indicates the proportion of dependents borne by workplace subscribers, also declined. It decreased annually from 1.24 in 2016, 1.19 in 2017, 1.12 in 2018, 1.05 in 2019, to 1.0 in 2020, and fell below 1 for the first time to 0.95 in 2021.

The National Health Insurance Service has strengthened the eligibility criteria for dependents through the second phase of the health insurance premium assessment system reform until September last year. Originally, dependents could be registered if their annual income did not exceed 34 million KRW. Now, if they earn more than 20 million KRW annually, they are converted to regional subscribers and must pay the insurance premiums themselves.

The Service estimated that about 273,000 people, or 1.5% of dependents, would be converted to regional subscribers due to the reform. The expected average burden per person upon conversion is 149,000 KRW.

The government plans to focus on converting high-income and other dependents with the ability to pay into regional subscribers over five years from this year to 2026 through the "Mid-term Health Insurance Financial Soundness Policy" to prevent deterioration of health insurance finances.

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