Health Insurance Coverage Extended to Children of Unmarried Fathers Before Birth Registration

▲National Health Insurance Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The National Health Insurance Service announced on the 28th that it will expand health insurance coverage for children of unmarried fathers who have experienced difficulties using hospitals and clinics due to delayed birth registration.

Currently, children of unmarried fathers cannot have their births registered until the family court completes the verification process after the unmarried father submits a petition for confirmation of birth registration. Because of this, unmarried father households have faced difficulties in using hospitals and clinics as they are unable to register the birth for a certain period even after the child is born.

The Service has prepared guidelines allowing unmarried fathers to apply for health insurance eligibility for their children even before birth registration and will implement this starting from the 29th.

Those wishing to apply health insurance coverage for their children can visit a Service branch and submit the 'Petition for Confirmation of Birth Registration of Biological Child' (copy of the complaint) and 'DNA Test Results.'

Earlier, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on August 12 that it would expand health insurance coverage for children of unmarried fathers. According to the 2018 Population and Housing Census by Statistics Korea, there are 7,768 unmarried fathers nationwide, and their children number 9,066.