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By Lee Hyo-jin
The nation’s human rights watchdog said Tuesday that a change in visa status should not be a reason to bar people of foreign nationality, who have previously made health insurance contributions, from the national health insurance program.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) delivered the opinion in response to a petition filed by Ko Gi-bok, head of the Joint Committee with Migrants in Korea, on behalf of a migrant worker from Indonesia.
The migrant worker is in his 30s and entered Korea in 2015 under the Employment Permit System (EPS), working at a factory in Gyeonggi Province for four years and ten months, according to Ko.
During this period, he had been enrolled in the national health insurance via his employer.
Although his visa expired as of November 2020, he could not leave the country immediately, due to ongoing legal procedures over delayed payments from this company, which went bankrupt and failed to pay him. So the government granted him a G-1 visa, allowing him a temporary stay.
But the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) refused his request to reapply for the state-run health insurance plan as an individual to maintain the insurance, saying that he was no longer eligible to enroll due to his visa type having changed.
“It was uncertain how much longer he would have to stay here during the legal proceedings over the delayed payments from his company. Also, he was suffering from a severe injury to his hand, due to an accident at his workplace, which required immediate medical treatment,” Ko told The Korea Times.
“We filed the petition because denying access to medical benefits and services, especially during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic, constitutes discrimination against people with foreign nationalities,” he added.
In response, the human rights watchdog recommended that the Ministry of Health and Welfare and NHIS revise the system to prevent such blind spots in healthcare provisions.
“The person’s visa type was changed due to a specific reason, but the NHIS treated him like a foreigner who was in Korea for a temporary visit and deprived him of access to health insurance. This treatment does not meet the purpose of the insurance system and lacks reasonable cause,” it said in a statement.
“If foreign residents who have been paying monthly contributions to the national health insurance program lose their subscription because of a change in visa type, this situation undermines the principle of social solidarity embedded in Korea’s health insurance system.”
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