Korea Health Insurance for Foreigners: What You Pay

Your first Korean paycheck arrives smaller than the contract said, or a bill for health insurance lands in your mailbox and you have no idea why. Korea health insurance for foreigners is mandatory for most residents, and the amount depends on one thing: whether you are on a company payroll or not. This guide explains both cases with the 2026 numbers.

Short version

If you work for a Korean company, your employer enrolls you and takes your share from your salary. If you live here without a Korean employer, you are generally enrolled after six months of stay, and you get a monthly bill. Either way, the coverage is the same as Koreans get.

Who has to join Korea’s national health insurance

The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) guidance for foreigners splits people into two groups.

Employees. Foreigners who work at an insured company are compulsorily subscribed. NHIS says you can apply for exclusion if you can prove equivalent medical coverage under foreign regulations or insurance, or through a contract with your employer. You file the withdrawal form within 14 days of the date your eligibility was reported.

Everyone else (regional subscribers). NHIS states that any foreigner or overseas Korean who has stayed in Korea for over six months is subject to mandatory subscription, a rule in place since July 16, 2019. The visa list on that page covers D, E, F and H categories, including students on D-2 and D-4.

How much you pay if you have a job

For employees, NHIS sets the 2026 contribution rate at 7.19% of your monthly wage. The company and the employee each pay 50%, and your share is deducted from your salary. The rate was 7.09% in 2025, so a small increase hit every payslip in January.

NHIS’s 2026 rate notice (in Korean) also lists long-term care insurance at 0.9448%, calculated as a share of your health premium. Those two lines together are why your payslip shows more than one insurance deduction.

Jun’s tip: Read your payslip once, line by line, in your first month. Health insurance, long-term care, the pension and employment insurance are separate items, and knowing which is which makes it easy to spot a real mistake.

How much you pay if you don’t have a Korean employer

Regional subscribers pay by a points system based on income, property and cars. The NHIS contribution page sets the value per point at KRW 211.5 for 2026. Property includes things like a rented home, so your housing situation matters. If you are still choosing a lease, our jeonse vs wolse guide covers the basics.

A doctor sitting at a desk in a clinic office — Photo: Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

There is also a floor. The NHIS guidance page says that if the calculated fee is less than the average fee, the average fee is charged. The 2026 notice puts the average premium for foreign regional subscribers at KRW 158,630 a month, made up of KRW 140,210 in health insurance and KRW 18,420 in long-term care. Holders of F-5 and F-6 visas are the exception: NHIS says their fee is calculated the same way as for Korean residents.

Student reductions and other discounts

NHIS’s foreigner page lists a reduction for D-2 and D-4 visa holders, and for overseas Korean students on F-4, of 50% from March 2023 onward, except for households made up only of minors. It also lists 50% for people living on islands or in remote areas, and 22% for people living in farming or fishing villages. Check the page for your exact case, because the rules differ by visa.

What the insurance covers

NHIS says insurance for foreigners has the same coverage as for Korean citizens: prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of illness or injury, plus childbirth, death and health promotion. In practice, that is why a clinic visit costs so little once you show your card. Our doctor guide walks through what to bring.

Step by step: what to do this week

Check which group you are in: employee or regional subscriber.
If you are an employee, confirm with your HR team that enrollment was reported, and look at the deduction on your payslip.
If you are a regional subscriber, expect your first bill after the six-month point, and set up automatic payment so you never miss a month.
If you have equivalent coverage from your home country or employer and think you qualify for exclusion, ask NHIS before the filing window closes, since the employee form has a 14-day limit.
Save the NHIS call center number: 1577-1000, or the English line at 033-811-2000.

Checklist

Alien registration card (ARC) ready
Payslip checked for the health insurance deduction
Auto-pay set up if you get a bill
Address kept up to date with immigration and NHIS
NHIS English line saved in your phone

Jun’s tip: If a bill looks wrong, don’t ignore it and don’t just pay it. Call the English line with your ARC number in front of you and ask them to explain the calculation. Unpaid insurance can build up, and fixing it early is far less stressful.

I checked these figures against NHIS’s own pages in October 2026. Rates change every January, so re-check before you budget for next year.

Next up

Next time I’ll cover the Korean tax basics for foreigners, including what the year-end settlement is and when it happens.

Korea Health Insurance: What You Pay