Korean Health Insurance for Foreigners 2026: Employee vs Regional NHIS, ₩158,630 Minimum, Students' ₩79,320, Arrears

Korea's National Health Insurance, 국민건강보험 (gungmin-geongang-boheom) or NHIS, covers 97% of the population including every foreigner who has been here six months, and it is the reason a doctor's visit costs ₩5,000 and an MRI under ₩200,000. It is also compulsory, priced on a formula that treats foreigners slightly differently from Koreans, and — since 2019 — linked to your visa. Below: what you pay as an employee, what you pay if you are not one, and the rules on dependents, students and arrears.

Two kinds of subscriber

Workplace subscribers, 직장가입자 (jikjang-gaipja), are employees. The premium is 7.19% of salary in 2026 (Ministry of Health and Welfare), split equally: you pay 3.595%, the company pays 3.595%. Long-term care insurance, 장기요양보험 (janggi-yoyang-boheom), is added at 13.14% of the health premium. On ₩4M a month that is ₩143,800 + ₩18,900 = about ₩162,700 from your side. Enrolment is automatic on your first day, whatever the visa, and there is no minimum residence period. Your employer handles everything; your only job is to register dependents.

Regional subscribers, 지역가입자 (jiyeok-gaipja), are everyone else: freelancers, business owners, job-seekers between contracts, spouses on F-6 who do not work, students, and retirees. A foreigner becomes a regional subscriber automatically after six months of residence (NHIS) (immediately for F-5, F-6, D-2, D-4-3 and a few other statuses; D-4-1 language students wait the six months) — the 2019 reform that ended the days of choosing whether to join. The premium follows the same income-and-property formula as for Koreans, with one difference: it can never be lower than the average premium of all subscribers the previous year, which for 2026 is ₩158,630 a month including long-term care. A Korean with no income and no property might pay ₩20,000; a foreigner in the same position pays ₩158,630. Students on D-2/D-4 pay 50% of that minimum.

The logic behind the minimum is that foreigners' overseas income and assets are invisible to the NHIS. The effect is that a low-earning foreign freelancer pays proportionally far more than a Korean one; there is no appeal.

The three positions a foreigner can be in:

Subscriber	Enrolled	You pay	Dependents
Employee (workplace)	First day of work, any visa	3.595% of salary + 13.14% of that for care; employer matches	Spouse and children under 19 at once; other relatives after 6 months in Korea
Regional	After six months of residence (at once for F-5, F-6)	Income-and-property formula, never below ₩158,630 a month	None; family billed in one household premium
Student (D-2/D-4)	D-2 from ARC registration; D-4-1 after six months (regional subscriber)	50% of the minimum: ₩79,320 a month	None (regional rules)

Students (D-2, D-4)

Since March 1, 2021 every foreign student in Korea is a compulsory member of the NHIS as a regional subscriber. In 2026 the student premium is ₩79,320 a month — 50% of the ₩158,630 foreigner minimum — billed from your ARC registration on a D-2 and from the sixth month on a D-4-1. There is no opt-out for private or home-country insurance, the bill is due on the 25th of each month, and unpaid premiums cap your next visa extension. The estimator turns your planned stay into a cost, and any months you have missed into the arrears figure Immigration will see.

Who is enrolled, and from when

Visa	Enrolment starts	First bill
D-2 (all subcodes) and D-4-3 (school students)	foreign-resident registration, i.e. on arrival	first month in Korea
D-4-1 Korean language course	automatically six months after arrival	month 7
GKS scholars (any visa)	same as above	paid from the GKS allowance (included since 2026)

Nothing is filed by you. The NHIS takes the enrolment from the immigration record and sends the bill to your registered address — one more reason the 15-day address report matters. Some universities collect the premium with tuition and remit it; ask the international office which applies to you, because paying twice is as common a mistake as not paying. The March 2021 change replaced a system in which students could choose to join, which is why degree students, unlike most foreigners on a non-working visa, are in from day one.

The 2026 premium: ₩79,320, and where it comes from

Students get a 50% reduction on the foreigner minimum described above, hence ₩79,320. The reduction was 70% when compulsory enrolment began in March 2021, 60% from March 2022 and 50% from March 2023, and the base rises most years (₩76,390 in 2025 on a ₩152,790 minimum), so budget for a small increase each January.

Year	Foreigner minimum	Student reduction	Student premium
2025	₩152,790	50%	₩76,390
2026	₩158,630	50%	₩79,320

You lose the reduction if you have Korean income above about ₩3.6M a year or property above about ₩13.5M — a part-time job at the 25-hour cap (part-time work rules) can cross the income line, so check your bill after a busy semester. Employee status changes everything: if an employer enrols you as a workplace subscriber, the student premium stops and the payroll deduction of 3.595% plus long-term care takes over.

No opt-out

The question every new student asks: can travel insurance, a home-country policy or the university's own plan replace NHIS? No. Enrolment is a legal consequence of your registration, not a choice, and university plans are supplements for non-covered treatment, not substitutes. The National Health Insurance Act does contain an exclusion for people who have "equivalent medical security" under a foreign law, foreign insurance or an employer's contract, but there is no established practice of the NHIS granting it to students, so plan on paying. The only way to stop the premium legally is to leave — see the suspension for months abroad under Leaving Korea.

Paying as a student

The bill is due by the 25th of each month, in advance. Pay by automatic transfer from your Korean account (set it up once at the bank or through the NHIS), at any bank or ATM with the giro number, at a convenience store, or through the electronic notice. Missed months trigger the extension limits in Arrears and your visa.

Two runs of the estimator. A D-2 student staying 24 months with three unpaid months: ₩1,903,680 in premiums over the stay, arrears of ₩237,960 plus a surcharge of up to about ₩21,416, and a six-month cap on the next extension until it is paid. A D-4-1 student staying 12 months with nothing unpaid: six insured months, ₩475,920, no effect on the extension. Questions in English: the NHIS foreigner line 1577-1000 or 033-811-2000.

How the student estimator works

1. Insured months = months in Korea (D-2) or months in Korea minus six (D-4-1), never below zero.
2. Total premiums = insured months × ₩79,320; annual cost = × 12. All at the 2026 rate.
3. Arrears = unpaid months × ₩79,320; the surcharge shown is 9% of that, the approximate statutory ceiling.
4. One to three unpaid months trigger the six-month extension warning; four or more trigger the refusal warning, matching the guideline in Arrears and your visa.

Common student mistakes

• "Students join after six months." D-4-1 only. D-2 students are billed from month one.
• Assuming a ₩70,000 premium. 2026 is ₩79,320; it moves every January.
• Ignoring the bill because you have private insurance. The bill does not go away, and Immigration sees it before you see the officer.
• Paying twice. If the university collects it with tuition, the NHIS notice may still arrive; check before paying both.
• Working over the income line without checking. The 50% reduction has income and property limits.

Dependents

Employees can register a spouse and children under 19 immediately, and from April 2024 other relatives — parents, parents-in-law, adult children — only after they have lived in Korea six months. Dependents pay nothing and receive the same coverage. Registration is at any NHIS branch with the family relationship document (apostilled or consular-certified, with Korean translation) and their ARC or passport.

Regional subscribers cannot have dependents. A non-working spouse of a regional subscriber is instead billed within the same household premium.

What it covers, and what you pay at the counter

The NHIS pays 50–80% of most treatments. Your co-payment depends on where you go: 30% at a clinic, 의원 (uiwon), 40% at a hospital, 50% at a general hospital and 60% at a tertiary university hospital — the system pushes you to start small. Inpatient care is 20%. Prescriptions at the pharmacy are 30%. Dental checks, cleaning and a growing share of fillings are covered; cosmetic procedures, most orthodontics, private rooms and non-listed drugs are not. A free general health check is included every two years (every year for non-office employees).

Two things surprise foreigners. The out-of-pocket ceiling, 본인부담상한제 (bonin-budam-sanghan-je), refunds anything you pay above an income-based cap per year (from about ₩900,000 for low earners to ₩8M+); the refund arrives automatically the following August. And private insurance, 실손보험 (silson-boheom), is a separate product sold by insurers, which some employers provide; it reimburses the co-payments, not the premiums.

Arrears and your visa

Since July 2019 Immigration checks your NHIS record (and tax arrears) at every extension or change of status, at the 38 immigration offices listed in its notice. Under the current guideline, 1–3 months of unpaid premiums limit the extension to six months at a time; 4 or more months mean the extension is refused until you clear the debt (payment plans are accepted). Unpaid premiums do not disappear when you leave and are billed again if you return. Late fees accrue daily — a higher rate for the first 30 days, then a lower one — capped at 9% of the premium in total.

The usual way people fall into arrears without noticing is the gap between jobs: your workplace enrolment ends on the last day of employment, the regional enrolment starts automatically the next day at the ₩158,630 minimum, and the bill goes to a registered address you may have left. Register a phone number or email with the NHIS (1577-1000, press 7 for foreign languages) so the notices reach you.

Leaving Korea

Enrolment ends on your departure date if you leave for good, and premiums paid for later months are refunded to a Korean account (or by the tax-refund window at the airport for small amounts). Regional subscribers away for a month or more can ask for a suspension of those months — but only in advance for pre-planned trips, or after the fact with the immigration record. Employees stay on payroll insurance during business trips or leave. The money checklist for leaving Korea has the full list.

Employment insurance, the smallest of the four deductions at 0.9%, is the one most foreigners pay for nothing — because they never learn they can claim unemployment benefits. That is next.