[2025 Audit] "Chinese Nationals Freeloading on Health Insurance" Claim Refuted as "Surplus Recorded"

Chinese Nationals' Health Insurance Recorded a 5.5 Billion Won Surplus Last Year
Improper Benefit Claims Mainly Caused by Employers' Delayed Reporting

Jeong Eun-kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, directly refuted the so-called claim of "Chinese nationals freeloading on health insurance" by presenting concrete figures. She explained that while there had been fiscal deficits in the past, the deficit had narrowed over time and turned into a surplus last year. She further clarified that most cases of improper benefit claims by Chinese nationals were due to delayed reporting by domestic employers.

On the 14th, at the Health and Welfare Committee's national audit held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Jeong Eun-kyung, Minister of Health and Welfare, is responding to lawmakers' questions. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the 14th, during the Health and Welfare Committee's national audit at the National Assembly, Minister Jeong stated, "Currently, the overall health insurance fiscal balance for all foreign nationals has turned into a surplus, and although there were some deficits among Chinese nationals in the past, they have also recently shown a surplus. Last year, the health insurance fiscal balance for Chinese nationals recorded a surplus of approximately 5.5 billion won."

This was in response to a request from Assemblyman Lee Gaeho of the Democratic Party of Korea, who said, "There are claims that Chinese nationals pay less than 20,000 won in health insurance premiums and receive benefits worth nearly 70 million won, suggesting that Korean citizens pay the premiums while foreigners take the benefits," and asked for clarification of the facts.

According to the National Health Insurance Service, over the past eight years from 2017 to last year, foreign subscribers, excluding overseas Koreans, paid more in health insurance premiums than they received in benefits, resulting in a surplus. Last year, the surplus amounted to 943.9 billion won. In particular, for Chinese subscribers, the health insurance fiscal balance went from a deficit of 110.8 billion won in 2017 to a larger deficit of 150.9 billion won in 2018, but by 2024, it recorded a surplus of 5.5 billion won. This turnaround was attributed to stricter eligibility requirements, such as extending the minimum residency period required to receive health insurance benefits from three months to six months.

Minister Jeong also refuted Assemblywoman Choi Boyoon of the People Power Party, who pointed out that "70.7% of improper health insurance claims are made by Chinese nationals." Minister Jeong explained, "Of the improper claims cited, 99.5% occurred because employers delayed reporting when employees left their jobs. These are not cases of fraudulent claims by the users themselves." She added, "The reason the proportion of Chinese nationals among improper claimants is the highest is simply because there are absolutely more Chinese subscribers, and the rate is actually slightly lower than that of other nationalities."

Assemblywoman Jeon Jinsook of the Democratic Party of Korea said, "Anti-Chinese protests are growing, and lawmakers are discussing legislation to prevent what they call the 'three major shopping' activities by Chinese nationals-medical, election, and real estate shopping. The problem is that these claims are not based on facts." She continued, "The narrative of Chinese nationals abusing health insurance is the result of statistical errors by the National Health Insurance Service in 2020 and 2023. If incorrect data is fueling anti-Chinese sentiment, the Ministry of Health and Welfare should take a more proactive stance and clearly state that there are misunderstandings."

Previously, the National Health Insurance Service had announced that Chinese nationals recorded a health insurance fiscal deficit of 23.9 billion won in 2020, but in March of this year, it corrected the figure to a surplus of 36.5 billion won.