13,688 High-Amount and Habitual Defaulters of 4 Major Social Insurance Contributions... Delinquent Amount 563.7 Billion KRW

National Health Insurance Service Reports 52.1% Increase in Arrears Compared to Last Year
Arrears Patients Must Pay Full Medical Fees When Using Hospitals and Clinics

#Writer Kang Mo has been publicly identified as a high-amount and habitual defaulter for failing to pay 36 million KRW in health insurance premiums over 35 months since November 2021. The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) has encouraged payment 70 times and pursued seizure of bank deposits and other claims, but Kang only applied for installment payments in 2022 without making any actual payments.

On the 27th, the NHIS disclosed the personal information of 13,688 high-amount and habitual defaulters of the four major social insurance premiums, including health insurance, national pension, employment, and industrial accident insurance, on its website.

The criteria for disclosure are based on December 31 of last year, targeting those who have overdue payments for more than one year with health insurance premiums of 10 million KRW or more, pension insurance premiums of 20 million KRW or more, and employment and industrial accident insurance premiums of 50 million KRW or more. The disclosed information includes the defaulter’s name, business name, industry/occupation, age, address, delinquency period, and amount owed.

The disclosure system for high-amount and habitual defaulters aims to prevent moral hazard among defaulters and encourage voluntary payment to strengthen the financial soundness of insurance funds. On March 29, the NHIS selected 29,465 candidates for disclosure at the 1st Insurance Premium Information Disclosure Deliberation Committee and gave them more than six months to voluntarily pay or provide explanations. Subsequently, on the 20th, the 2nd Insurance Premium Information Disclosure Deliberation Committee finalized the disclosure list after comprehensively considering payment promises, defaulters’ asset status, income level, and whether minors were involved.

This year, the number of disclosed high-amount and habitual defaulters of the four major social insurances was 13,688, a 5.3% decrease from last year’s 14,457. However, the amount owed increased by 52.1% to 563.7 billion KRW from 370.6 billion KRW last year. The NHIS explained that this sharp increase was due to stricter disclosure criteria for employment and industrial accident insurance starting this year, causing the amount owed to jump from 6.9 billion KRW last year to 294.9 billion KRW this year.

The list of high-amount and habitual defaulters includes actors, writers, and athletes. Actor Jung Mo failed to pay 20 million KRW in premiums over 80 months from January 2014 to December this year. Player K, who played in the domestic professional soccer league, also defaulted on 31.3 million KRW in health insurance premiums for eight months from December 2021 to July 2022. There are nine defaulters who owe more than 1 billion KRW in employment and industrial accident insurance, with a total delinquency of 14.4 billion KRW.

By age group, those in their 50s accounted for 41.5% (2,892 cases), 40s 26.5% (1,848 cases), 60s 21.1% (1,469 cases), 30s and below 10.5% (736 cases), and 70s and above 0.4% (27 cases). When the personal information of high-amount and habitual defaulters is disclosed, they become subject to prior benefit restrictions, meaning they cannot receive health insurance benefits when using hospitals or clinics and must bear the full cost of medical fees themselves.

The disclosed list also includes 103 hospitals and clinics. They owe a total of 9.3 billion KRW, including 3.8 billion KRW in health insurance premiums, 2.9 billion KRW in national pension, and 2.6 billion KRW in employment and industrial accident insurance.

The NHIS stated, "We will actively work to reduce the delinquency of the four major insurance premiums by enforcing strong collection measures such as prior benefit restrictions, seizure, and public auction against defaulters who have the ability to pay but refuse to do so."