[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] It has been found that in the past five years, there was a case where a Chinese individual received health insurance benefits worth approximately 3 billion KRW.
According to data submitted by the National Health Insurance Corporation to Independent Lawmaker Yongho Lee, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, a total of 4,559,000 foreign nationals enrolled in health insurance actually received medical treatment in the past five years.
The total health insurance benefits they received amounted to 3.6621 trillion KRW. This means that each person received health insurance benefits exceeding 800,000 KRW on average.
Among them, the highest beneficiary was a Chinese individual who received medical treatment worth 3.29501 billion KRW and received benefits amounting to 2.96301 billion KRW over the past five years. The out-of-pocket expense was 332 million KRW.
As of the end of July this year, the total number of foreign nationals enrolled in health insurance was 1,219,520, and the number of dependents registered by them was 194,133.
Lawmaker Lee stated, "Even if foreigners who stay in Korea for a short period or enter for treatment purposes pay health insurance premiums under the same standards as nationals, criticism inevitably arises that they are free-riding on the health insurance system," and pointed out, "The health insurance system for foreigners should be operated separately from that for nationals."
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