Korea’s health insurance deficit hits 11 trillion won

South Korea’s national health insurance system recorded its largest-ever deficit last year, surpassing 11.3 trillion won.

According to “Recent 10-Year Fiscal Data” provided to Rep. Kim Mi-ae of the People Power Party by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) on Sunday, the agency collected 83.952 trillion won in premiums while spending 95.2529 trillion won on benefit reimbursements. This resulted in a deficit of 11.3009 trillion won, calculated by subtracting benefit payouts from premium income.

The deficit in the premium balance steadily increased from 2.4533 trillion won in 2015 to 10.3001 trillion won by 2019. While the deficit decreased to 9.3442 trillion won in 2020 and 6.4995 trillion won in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, it rebounded in 2022. Compared to 2015, last year’s deficit was 4.6 times larger.

However, when factoring in annual government subsidies, which account for 13 to 15 percent of premium income, and reserve fund earnings, the fiscal balance of the national health insurance turns into a surplus. Last year, the overall fiscal balance recorded a surplus of 1.7244 trillion won. “We must consider whether we are being misled by the easy solution of increasing government subsidies and deceiving ourselves with this ‘misleading surplus,'" said Rep. Kim. It is essential to find ways to ensure the fiscal health and long-term sustainability of the national health insurance system.


방성은 기자 bbang@donga.com