Gov’t to leave health insurance rates unchanged in 2024

19th Health Insurance Policy Review Committee [Photo by Yonhap]

The South Korean government will keep health insurance premiums unchanged in 2024 for the first time in seven years to counter increases in utility bills, including electricity prices. With high inflation still a major concern, the government is looking to avoid utility rate hikes that could sour public sentiment ahead of the general election in 2024.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare held the latest meeting of its Health Insurance Policy Review Committee (HIPRC) on Tuesday, where it decided to freeze health insurance premium rates for 2024. This is the third time the ministry has hit the brakes on health insurance rates since the National Health Insurance Act was enacted in July 2000, following increases in 2009 and 2017. “The decision came in consideration of the health insurance system’s financial situation and the economic conditions triggered by high inflation and interest rates,” an official from the ministry said.

Consumer price inflation hit 5.1 percent in 2022, the highest figure since 1998, according to the HIPRC. The benchmark interest rate, which rose to 3.5 percent, also contributed to the decision to freeze the health insurance rate. The possibility of maintaining the current rate was raised several times as the health insurance reserve topped 20 trillion won ($17.68 billion) at the end of 2022. This year’s health insurance account is also expected to see a surplus of 1.98 trillion won, bringing the cumulative reserve to 25.85 trillion won by the end of the year.

In July, the government announced in its economic policy direction for the second half of 2023 that it would limit increases in health insurance premiums as much as possible in 2024 to reduce the public’s living expenses, citing medical expenses as one of the core costs.

Political motivations such as the general election in April 2024 are also at play, with politicians unlikely to raise health insurance premiums to avoid a major impact on votes.

But analysts say that the freeze will be burdensome in the mid to long term, as the number of insurance beneficiaries will increase moving forward due to the declining birthrate and aging population. According to a report on mid-term fiscal outlook for 2022-2031 released by the National Assembly Budget Office, health expenditures will exceed 100 trillion won to reach 106.5 trillion won in 2025 and then increase to 124.5 trillion won in 2027, 143 trillion won in 2029, and 163.7 trillion won in 2031. While the average annual growth of expenditure is 7.4 percent, that of health insurance revenues over the same period stands at a mere 6.4 percent, which is 1.0 percentage points lower than the expenditure. The fiscal deficit is also expected to increase sharply, reaching 1.5 trillion won in 2025, 3.9 trillion won in 2027, 5.4 trillion won in 2029, and 13.6 trillion won in 2031.

“Given these indicators, it is obvious that a freeze will lead to a deficit,” National Health Insurance Service President Jung Ki-suck said at a press conference on September 14. But the Health Ministry plans to ease the public’s burden by leaving health insurance rates unchanged, while expanding support for essential medical care and improving health insurance’s financial sustainability by forming a Second National Health Insurance Comprehensive Plan.