Refunds of health insurance premiums resulting from duplicate payments, erroneous payments, or the cancellation of imposition orders have reached 2.21 billion KRW (221 hundred million KRW) over the past five years, but these funds have been disappearing without being claimed by their rightful owners.
According to data submitted by Seo Youngseok, member of the Democratic Party of Korea and a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, to whom the National Health Insurance Service provided information, a total of 22.1 billion KRW (2.21 billion KRW) in health insurance premium refunds generated between 2020 and last year have expired without being returned to their owners.
Under current law, if a refund is not claimed within three years, it is processed into the health insurance fund according to the statute of limitations. As of the end of August this year, the total amount of unclaimed health insurance premium refunds stands at 127.8 billion KRW.
The total amount of health insurance premium refunds generated between 2020 and 2024 is 3.6245 trillion KRW. Refunds are categorized into settlement refunds due to qualification changes, and receipt refunds resulting from overpayments such as duplicate or erroneous payments. When a refund occurs, overdue premiums are first deducted, and if there is any remaining amount, it is paid to the subscriber upon application. By reason for occurrence, receipt refunds account for 279.9 billion KRW, while settlement refunds amount to 3.3446 trillion KRW.
The National Health Insurance Service stated that it operates two intensive refund payment periods each year, targeting high-value and soon-to-expire unclaimed refunds, and notifies subscribers of refund occurrences through electronic documents. However, data on payments made during these intensive periods show that the refund payment rate in 2023 and 2024 was below 60%.
In addition, the rate at which digital electronic notifications about refund occurrences sent via electronic documents are viewed has declined each year, dropping to approximately 32%.
Seo Youngseok emphasized, "Although most refunds are being paid and the National Health Insurance Service is encouraging refund applications through various channels, tens of billions of KRW still fail to reach their rightful owners every year. Fundamental efforts are needed, such as establishing a system where refunds are automatically paid to the subscribers for whom they occur, rather than only to those who apply."
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