Foreigners' Health Insurance Medical Expenses Surge 70% in 5 Years, Nearing 1.6 Trillion Won Last Year

Clinic-Level Medical Expenses Up 94%, Dental Costs Surpass 100 Billion Won
"Need for Transparent Disclosure of Tax Spending and Separation of Medical Benefits for Koreans and Foreigners"

The total amount of health insurance medical expenses for foreigners in Korea has increased by nearly 70% over the past five years, reaching close to 1.6 trillion won last year. In contrast, the growth rate of medical expenses for Korean nationals during the same period was only about half that.

According to data submitted by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Assemblywoman Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, the total health insurance medical expenses for foreigners surged by 68%, from 948.2 billion won in 2019 to 1.5928 trillion won in 2024.

As of August this year, medical expenses for foreigners amounted to 1.1281 trillion won, indicating that the upward trend is expected to continue throughout the year. During the same period, the number of foreign patients increased by 28.3%, from 3.23 million to 4.15 million.

By type of hospital, medical expenses for foreigners at hospital-level medical institutions, including advanced general hospitals as well as dental and Korean medicine clinics, increased by 53.9%, from 615.1 billion won to 946.4 billion won. By medical specialty, internal medicine accounted for the largest share at 298.4 billion won, followed by surgery (104.2 billion won), orthopedics (99.6 billion won), obstetrics and gynecology (94.6 billion won), and neurosurgery (65.7 billion won).

The increase was particularly pronounced at clinic-level medical institutions. At this level, medical expenses for foreigners soared by 94.1%, from 333.1 billion won in 2019 to 646.4 billion won last year. Of this, dental treatment expenses alone exceeded 100 billion won, reaching 111.6 billion won.

In contrast, health insurance medical expenses for Korean nationals rose by 35.8% during the same period, from 66.9728 trillion won to 90.9177 trillion won. While the absolute amount is about 60 times higher than that for foreigners, the rate of increase was only half as much.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, government subsidies for the health insurance fund increased by 56.4%, from 7.7803 trillion won in 2019 to 12.1658 trillion won last year. Government subsidies account for approximately 11-12% of total health insurance revenue. However, the government does not manage these subsidies by nationality.

Assemblywoman Kim Mi-ae stated, "The specific use of government subsidies, which are funded by taxpayers, must be transparently disclosed by category. Institutional measures must be promptly established to clearly distinguish and manage medical expenses and insurance benefits for both foreigners and Korean nationals, ensuring that taxes and health insurance contributions paid by the public are used fairly."

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