Table of Contents
- 1 If even one member of the couple has an annual income exceeding 20 million won, both dependents are excluded from health insurance.
- 2 “Compared to property standards, it is against fairness and is inconsistent.”
- 3 What are the implications of excluding dependents from health insurance based on their income, and how does it affect families financially?
If even one member of the couple has an annual income exceeding 20 million won, both dependents are excluded from health insurance.
“Compared to property standards, it is against fairness and is inconsistent.”
A photo of the Jongno branch of the National Health Insurance Corporation in Seoul. 2024.2.2 [email protected]
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Seo Han-gi = It has been pointed out that if a health insurance subscriber is married and either the husband or wife does not meet the income standard, the system that disqualifies both spouses as dependents should be abolished as it is unreasonable.
This is because, unlike the income standard, in the case of the property standard, if one of the couple does not meet the criteria, it violates fairness compared to excluding only that person from being a dependent.
According to data submitted by the National Health Insurance Corporation to the office of Rep. Kim Seon-min of the Korea Innovation Party on the 19th, dependents are spouses, children, parents, siblings (under 30 years old, over 65 years old) who mainly depend on the employed subscriber for their livelihood, and even if they do not pay insurance premiums. You can receive health insurance benefits.
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[표] Status of application of dependents by relationship with employed subscribers As of the end of September 2024 (unit: persons)
Therefore, there have been cases where some dependents free-ride on health insurance even though they have certain economic capabilities such as income and assets, leading to constant controversy over fairness.
In order to prevent such problems, health insurance authorities establish separate income, property standards, and support requirements and only qualify as dependents if they pass these recognition standards.
The income standard is an annual combined income of 20 million won or less, including interest, dividends, business, labor, and public pension (excluding private pension) income. The property standard is when the property tax base amount (local tax standard) exceeds KRW 900 million, regardless of income, or when annual income exceeds KRW 10 million and the property tax base is KRW 540 million to KRW 900 million.
If the dependent does not meet these requirements, the health insurance authority converts the dependent to a local subscriber and charges local health insurance premiums.
The problem is that in the process of determining whether or not to exclude dependents, the health insurance authorities consider the income requirement based on the couple’s combined income, while the property requirement is evaluated based on the individual assets of the husband and wife.
Different standards are applied to income and wealth.
Accordingly, in the case of income, if only one of the couple has a combined annual income exceeding 20 million won, the couple is dropped from the status of dependents, but assets are assessed based on the individual’s property tax table (Article 110 of the Local Tax Act), so unless one person meets the property requirements, the couple is excluded from the list of dependents. Only subtract from dependents.
In fact, as of February of this year, there were 43,326 people who were excluded from the list of dependents because their annual public pension income alone, such as civil servants, private school students, soldiers, and national pensions, had no other income and exceeded 20 million won. Among them, those who were accompanied by married couples were excluded. reached 15,710 people.
This means that even if the husband or wife earns 1.67 million won per month (exceeding 20 million won per year) in terms of public pension income, and the husband or wife does not receive a penny of public pension, the husband or wife is also excluded from the list of dependents.
An official from the National Health Insurance Corporation’s Qualification Assignment Department explained, “In the case of property, reflecting the special nature of the Corporation not being able to arbitrarily determine whether a couple has a share in the property formation process, we are checking the requirements for recognition as a dependent based only on each individual’s property.”
However, experts pointed out that, unlike assets, it is not fair to set a rule for excluding dependents only on income, and that there is a need to revise the enforcement rules of the Health Insurance Act as soon as possible to abolish the requirement for dependents to be excluded.
In particular, income from dependents, such as business, interest, and dividends, has the nature of assets jointly formed by the couple, but public pension income has a strong individual nature, with the couple paying separate insurance premiums and receiving separate retirement pensions, so it makes sense for them to be excluded together. The prevailing opinion is that it is not correct.
[표] Loss of dependents due to pension income by year (including those who drop out) Cumulative basis by year (unit: people)
[표] Cumulative basis by year for loss of dependent couple due to annual pension income (unit: persons)
(end)
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2024/11/19 06:00 Sent
What are the implications of excluding dependents from health insurance based on their income, and how does it affect families financially?
1. As an editor for world-today-news.com, I would like to interview Dr. Seo Hyung-jin, a health policy expert at Seoul National University Hospital, and Mr. Kim Do-hyun, a small business owner who was recently excluded from his spouse’s health insurance plan, regarding the current issue of dependents being excluded from health insurance based on their incomes. Dr. Seo, could you please explain in detail why there is a need to review the existing income standards for determining dependents’ eligibility for health insurance? On the other hand, Mr. Kim, could you share your experience of being excluded from your spouse’s health insurance plan due to your high income, and how this has impacted you and your family?
2. Dr. Seo, what are some alternative approaches that could be taken to ensure fairness in the health insurance system while considering both individual and couple income? Could you also comment on the existing property standards used in determining dependents’ eligibility and their impact on the overall system? On the other hand, Mr. Kim, do you think that there should be a single standard for income and property eligibility, or should they be considered separately?
3. In your opinion, Dr. Seo, what should be the role of public policy in ensuring that lower-income individuals and families have adequate access to healthcare? How can this be achieved without creating unfair burdens on middle-class and high-income families? Mr. Kim, as someone who has been affected by these policies, what do you think could be done to alleviate the financial burden on those who do not qualify as dependents but may still struggle to afford private health insurance?
4. Lastly, both of you, do you see any potential changes to the current system in the near future? Are there any ongoing discussions or proposals to address the issue of dependents’ eligibility for health insurance? What do you think the key challenges are in making these changes, and how can they be addressed effectively?
