I-EUMLiving in Korea

When your health insurance premium is high — check the bill · file an objection

This page is machine translated from Ieumi's guide written in Korean. If the meaning is confusing, please look at the Korean original text. View original text (Korean)

If your health insurance premium seems too high, first check how it was calculated. For foreign regional subscribers, if the calculated premium is less than the average premium, you pay the average premium. If you think the calculation is wrong, you can file an objection with the National Health Insurance Service.

📌 Key points

Premiums for foreign regional subscribers are calculated by the same standards as for Koreans (income · property), but if that amount is less than the average premium, you pay the average premium. The 2026 average premium for foreign regional subscribers is 158,630 won. Households whose head is a permanent resident (F-5) · marriage migrant (F-6) pay by the same standards as Koreans, without this minimum.

🔢 Do these in order

  1. Check whether your bill is the same as that year’s average premium. If it is, the amount calculated from your income · property may have been lower, so the average premium was applied — the calculation may not be wrong. If you ask the National Health Insurance Service (1577-1000), they will tell you how it was calculated.
  2. Check whether family members are getting separate bills. For foreign regional subscribers, each person is counted as one household. You can ask the National Health Insurance Service to put you in one household with your spouse (not a common-law partner) or children under 19 (including your spouse’s children). Ask the Service whether combining is better for you.
  3. If someone in your family works at a company and has employee coverage, ask whether you can be listed as their dependent. Dependents do not pay a separate premium.
  4. Some people get a reduction — those with study (D-2) · general training (D-4) · religion (D-6) status, and those living on islands · in remote areas or in farming and fishing villages. If this applies to you but is not reflected in your bill, ask the National Health Insurance Service.
  5. If you were outside Korea for 1 month or more, or you have the same level of medical coverage under foreign laws · insurance, tell the National Health Insurance Service. If a foreigner whose period of stay has not ended leaves Korea and stays abroad for 1 month or more, they are removed as a regional subscriber from the day after leaving.
  6. If you still think the calculation is wrong, file an objection with the National Health Insurance Service. You must submit it in writing (electronic documents included) within 90 days from the day you learned of the decision, and you cannot submit it after 180 days from the day of the decision (except when you show a valid reason why you could not). The Service decides within 60 days from receiving it, and may extend this by 30 days if unavoidable.
  7. If you do not agree with the decision on your objection, you can request a review by the Health Insurance Dispute Mediation Committee (the deadline is the same as for an objection), and you can also file an administrative lawsuit. For legal problems, ask the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (132).

📍 Where to go

National Health Insurance Service branch offices · Foreigner Service Center (1577-1000)

💻 Do it online

⚠️ Things to watch out for

Filing an objection does not mean you can stop paying the premium. If you fall behind, your medical care is limited and it also affects extending your period of stay, so if it is hard to pay, ask the National Health Insurance Service about paying in installments before you fall behind. If your income went down or you stopped working, also ask whether the premium can be recalculated. For help in foreign languages, the Service’s website lists, under its guides by language: English · Vietnamese 033-811-2000, Chinese 033-811-2001. If Korean is hard for you, you can also ask 1345.

See also

Basis

  • 국민건강보험법 제109조 ③④⑤⑨ · 제87조 ①③(이의신청 — 안 날부터 90일 · 있은 날부터 180일 · 문서) · 제88조(심판청구 — 건강보험분쟁조정위원회 · 기한 준용) · 제90조(행정소송) (법률, MST 285273, 시행 2026-10-08 · 법제처 국가법령정보센터 원문 대조 2026-10-25)
  • 국민건강보험법 시행령 제58조(이의신청 결정 60일 · 30일 연장) · 제76조의4(특례 대상에서 F-6 · F-5 제외) (MST 289701, 시행 2026-10-01 · 법제처 원문 2026-10-25)
  • 「장기체류 재외국민 및 외국인에 대한 건강보험 적용기준」(보건복지부고시 제2025-69호, 시행 2025-04-23) 제4조 ② 6호(출국 1개월) · 제6조 ① · [별표 2] 1호(평균보험료 하한 · F-5 · F-6 세대주 제외) · 2호(매년 11월 기준 · 다음 해 1월부터 12개월) · 4호(개인 단위 세대 · 신청하면 배우자 · 19세 미만 자녀와 세대 구성) · 5호(D-2 · D-4 2023년 3월분부터 100분의 50 · D-6 100분의 30 · 섬 · 벽지 · 농어촌 경감) (법제처 DRF 원문 2026-10-25)
  • 국민건강보험공단 「2026년도 보험료율 기준 안내」 2025-12-26 https://www.nhis.or.kr/nhis/together/wbhaea01000m01.do?mode=view&articleNo=11008009 — 「외국인 지역가입자 평균보험료: 158,630원(전년대비 3.80% 인상)」 (확인 2026-10-25)
  • 국민건강보험공단 언어별 누리집 — 영어 「Call Center English Consultant 033-811-2000」 https://www.nhis.or.kr/english/index.do · 베트남어 「Tổng đài Tư vấn tiếng Việt 82-33-811-2000」 https://www.nhis.or.kr/vietnamese/index.do · 중국어 「呼叫中心 汉语咨询 82-33-811-2001」 https://www.nhis.or.kr/chinese/index.do (확인 2026-10-25)
  • 🔴 쓰지 않은 것: 지역가입자 「보험료 조정」 신청의 요건 · 서류(시행령에 없고 공단 정관 · 내부 기준이라 원문 확인 못 함 — 「다시 셈할 수 있는지 물어보십시오」로만) · 평균보험료의 건강보험료 · 장기요양보험료 나눔(공단 공지에 금액 하나만 있음) · 경감 기준의 소득 · 재산 금액(「보험료 경감고시」 별표를 열지 않음) · 1577-1000 의 외국어 연결 번호(원문에서 못 찾음)

This content was checked on 2026-10-25.

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