Many people assume health insurance in Korea is a percentage of what they earn. For employees it is. For everyone else it is not. If you are not employed at a Korean company, your bill starts at a fixed floor of 158,630 KRW a month in 2026, whatever your income looks like.
That floor is the single figure most foreign residents need, and it does not appear on the English pages. Here is which scheme you are in, what the 2026 numbers are, who pays less, and what an unpaid bill does to your next visa extension.
Which scheme you are in
The National Health Insurance Service (국민건강보험공단, NHIS) puts everyone into one of three groups, and the group decides how your bill is built.
| Your situation | Group | How the bill is set |
|---|---|---|
| You work at a company, school, or public office in Korea | Employee insured 직장가입자 |
A percentage of your wage, split with your employer |
| You are not employed and have stayed six months or more | Self-employed insured 지역가입자 |
A fixed floor, unless your income and property put you above it |
| You are the family member of someone in the first row | Dependent 피부양자 |
No separate bill, if you meet the income and property limits |
Students, job seekers, people between jobs, and family members who do not qualify as dependents all land in the second row. That is where the floor matters.
What employees pay
If you are on a payroll, the calculation is simple and it does follow your income.
The rate rose from the 2025 level by 1.48 percent. It is deducted from your salary in the same way as tax, and it applies back to the date you started work.
An employee can apply to be left out of the system, but only in a narrow case: when you can prove you already have medical coverage equivalent to Korean health insurance through a foreign law, a foreign insurance policy, or a contract with your employer. The form is the Employee Health Insurance Withdrawal Application, and it has to reach NHIS within 14 days of the date your eligibility was reported.
What everyone else pays
The self-employed calculation starts the same way as it does for Korean nationals. Income and property are converted into an amount.
This is the rule that surprises people. A student with no income and no property does not get a small bill. They get the floor.
| Part | Monthly amount |
|---|---|
| Health insurance | 140,210 KRW |
| Long-term care insurance | 18,420 KRW |
| Total floor | 158,630 KRW |
That is 3.80 percent higher than the 2025 floor. One group is outside this rule entirely: households whose head holds Permanent Residence (F-5) or Marriage Immigrant (F-6) are charged on exactly the same basis as Korean nationals, with no floor.
Who pays less
Reductions are applied to the amount above, and they are substantial. The student reduction in particular is worth checking before you assume your bill is wrong.
| Who | Reduction |
|---|---|
| Study (D-2), General Training (D-4), and Overseas Korean (F-4) students | 50% |
| Religious Affairs (D-6), humanitarian status (G-1-6) and their dependents (G-1-12) | 30% |
| Residents of islands and remote areas | 50% |
| Farmers and fishers | 28% |
| Residents of farming and fishing villages | 22% |
Apply the student reduction to the 2026 floor and the arithmetic is 158,630 halved, so a student with no income pays about 79,300 KRW a month.
If you live with family, you can ask NHIS to issue one bill for the household rather than separate bills. That applies where annual household income is under 3.6 million KRW and the property tax base is under 135 million KRW, and you submit a document proving the family relationship.
When the amount changes
The floor is not a permanent number. NHIS recalculates it from the average contribution across all insured people at the end of November, and the new figure applies from January through December of the following year.
So the bill you are paying now was set from November 2025 data, and it will change in January. The rate for employees works the same way. Both were announced together on 4 December 2025.
What an unpaid bill costs you
This is the part that separates health insurance from an ordinary utility bill.
Six months instead of two years means booking another appointment, paying another 60,000 KRW extension fee, and assembling the documents again before the year is out. The arrears are the cheaper problem to solve.
More on health insurance
Each guide below covers one part of the system. Open the one that matches where you are.
Frequently asked questions
Official sources
Every figure on this page comes from NHIS notices and the Ministry of Justice rather than from a guidance summary. Rates change every January, so check the current notice before you plan around a number.
