The rate did not move for three years. It moved on 1 January 2026.
South Korea's national health insurance contribution rate is 7.19% of income in 2026, split evenly between worker and employer, so an employee pays 3.595%. On a ₩3,000,000 monthly salary that is ₩107,850 deducted. The average employee's own share is ₩160,699 a month; local-subscriber households average ₩90,242.
The 2026 figures in one place
- Contribution rate: 7.19% of income, effective 1 January to 31 December 2026
- Employee share: 3.595% (the employer pays the other half)
- Long-term care insurance, levied on top: 13.14% of the health premium, or 0.9448% of income
- Premium ceiling: ₩4,591,740 per month for the individual; floor ₩20,160 per month in total
- Foreign local subscribers: a flat ₩158,630 per month, long-term care included
Why the rate rose after a three-year freeze
The Ministry of Health and Welfare set the 2026 rate at 7.19% at the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee meeting of 28 August 2025, a rise of 0.1 percentage point, or 1.48% in relative terms. The ministry's stated reasoning: the fund is still in surplus, but three years of frozen rates plus weak economic growth had thinned the revenue base while commitments to regional and essential care kept growing.
That freeze is unusual in the programme's history. The NHIS publishes the full rate series in English, and it climbs almost every year.
| Year | Contribution rate |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 6.86% |
| 2022 | 6.99% |
| 2023–2025 | 7.09% |
| 2026 | 7.19% |
The table shows the 2026 increase is small by historical standards; the three flat years in the middle are the anomaly, not the 0.1-point rise that ended them. The 2027 rate is normally decided at a committee meeting in late August 2026.
What a ₩3,000,000 salary actually costs, line by line
Take a worker on a monthly salary of ₩3,000,000 in 2026. Both deductions come off the same base.
- Health insurance: ₩3,000,000 × 7.19% = ₩215,700 in total. The employer pays half, so ₩107,850 comes out of the payslip.
- Long-term care insurance: ₩215,700 × 13.14% = ₩28,343 in total, split the same way, so ₩14,171 from the worker.
- Monthly deduction: ₩107,850 + ₩14,171 = ₩122,021.
- Over a year: ₩122,021 × 12 = ₩1,464,252, matched won for won by the employer.
Payroll systems round the 보수월액 base and the resulting premium to the nearest ten won, so a real payslip can land a few won either side of these figures. National pension, employment insurance and income tax are separate deductions and are not included above.
Both ends of the scale are capped. Ministry of Health and Welfare Notice No. 2025-222, issued 24 December 2025, fixes the 2026 maximum salary-based premium at ₩9,183,480 a month, of which the employee pays ₩4,591,740. Working backwards through the 7.19% rate, the ceiling bites at a monthly salary of about ₩127.7 million; above that, the premium stops growing. The floor is ₩20,160 a month in total.
One exception that catches people out: employees with non-salary income above ₩20,000,000 a year owe an extra premium, the 소득월액보험료, calculated on the excess. Interest and dividend income below ₩10,000,000 is left out of that count. Under the same rules, staff posted overseas pay 50% of the standard rate.
Local subscribers: income plus property points
Anyone not enrolled through a workplace, and not a dependant of someone who is, becomes a local subscriber (지역가입자) and is billed by household rather than by person. The 2026 formula is income × 7.19%, plus property assessment points multiplied by ₩211.5 per point, a point value NHIS raised by 1.48% for 2026 in line with the rate.
The property leg is why a retiree with no income and a paid-off apartment can still receive a substantial bill, and why the local-subscriber average of ₩90,242 a month per household sits well below the employee average even though nobody is paying half of it for them. If you are budgeting a move, this line belongs alongside rent in your monthly cost of living in Seoul.
Foreign residents pay a floor, not a percentage
Foreigners staying six months or longer are enrolled automatically as local subscribers; there is no application to file and no opt-out. Because overseas income cannot be verified the way domestic income can, NHIS applies the average premium of all subscribers as a minimum standard, which turns the calculation into a flat charge.
For 2026 that charge is ₩158,630 a month, made up of ₩140,210 in health insurance and ₩18,420 in long-term care insurance. It is up 3.80% from ₩152,790 in 2025.
Foreigners employed by a Korean company are workplace subscribers instead and pay the ordinary 7.19% on salary with the employer covering half, as Seoul Metropolitan Government sets out for foreign workers. For a person earning under about ₩4.4 million a month, that is cheaper than the foreign local-subscriber floor, which is the practical reason a job contract changes this bill so sharply.
A 50% reduction for D-2 and D-4 international students is widely reported by student-support services, which would put the premium near ₩79,300 a month. It does not appear in NHIS's own published 2026 rate notice, so students should confirm the current terms at a local NHIS branch with a certificate of enrolment rather than assume it.
This table answers who pays on what basis, and whether anyone shares the cost.
| Subscriber type | Premium basis | 2026 monthly average (KRW) | Employer pays half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee (직장가입자) | 7.19% of monthly salary | 160,699 (own share) | Yes |
| Local (지역가입자) | 7.19% of income + property points | 90,242 (per household) | No |
| Foreign local subscriber | Flat minimum standard | 158,630 (incl. long-term care) | No |
| Voluntary continued (임의계속) | Average of last 12 months' salary | n/a | No |
The pattern the table exposes: the only category with a cost-sharing partner is employment. Everyone else carries the full premium, which is why the employee average is nearly double the local-subscriber average while the employee's actual burden is lower.
Long-term care insurance, the second deduction
The long-term care levy is a separate programme funding nursing and home care for older and disabled people, collected on the same bill. The Ministry of Health and Welfare set the 2026 rate at 0.9448% of income at the 6th Long-Term Care Committee meeting on 4 November 2025, up from 0.9182% in 2025. Expressed against the health premium, that is 13.14%.
In won, the average household long-term care premium goes from ₩17,845 to ₩18,362 a month, an increase of ₩517. Combined with the ₩2,235 rise in the average employee health premium, a typical worker is out about ₩2,500 more a month than in 2025.
What you still pay at the hospital
The premium buys coverage, not free care. HIRA sets the inpatient patient share at 20% of covered costs at any institution type, with real exemptions layered on top: infants under 2 pay nothing, children aged 2 to 15 pay 5%, natural and caesarean childbirth is exempt, and high-risk pregnancy is 10%. Long stays go the other way, adding 5 percentage points from day 16 and 10 points from day 31.
Outpatient care is charged on a ladder by institution size.
| Care setting | Patient share of covered cost |
|---|---|
| Clinic (의원), outpatient | 30% |
| Hospital (병원), outpatient | 40% |
| General hospital (종합병원), outpatient | 50% |
| Tertiary general hospital (상급종합병원), outpatient | 60% |
| Pharmacy dispensing | 30% |
| Inpatient, any institution | 20% |
What the ladder shows is a deliberate price signal: the same consultation costs twice as much at a tertiary hospital as at a neighbourhood clinic, which is how the system discourages walking into Asan or Samsung Medical Center with a sore throat. The 20% inpatient figure is published directly by HIRA; the tertiary outpatient tier is cited as both 50% and 60% in secondary summaries of the same schedule, so treat 60% as the ceiling case.
Above an annual threshold, NHIS refunds the excess. The 본인부담상한제, or out-of-pocket maximum, totals a year's covered patient costs across every provider and returns anything over a cap set by income bracket. For 2025 those caps ran from ₩890,000 in the lowest income decile to ₩8,260,000 in the highest. The refund is not instant: it arrives around the end of August of the following year. The 2026 decile table had not been published in a readable official form as of August 2026.
The cap has a hole in it. Non-covered (비급여) care sits entirely outside the calculation, along with dental implants, premium hospital rooms and some alternative medicine. A patient can blow through ₩10 million on non-covered treatment and receive no refund at all, which is exactly the gap private Korean supplementary insurance (실손보험) is sold to fill.
Leaving a job: 임의계속가입 for up to 36 months
Quit or retire, and the workplace premium ends along with the employer's half. The default is conversion to local-subscriber status, where property counts and nobody shares the bill. NHIS's voluntary continued coverage, 임의계속가입, lets a former employee keep the salary-based calculation for up to 36 months, provided they held workplace-subscriber status for a cumulative year or more within the 18 months before leaving. The premium is based on the average of the last 12 months' salary, but the individual now pays 100% of it instead of half.
The decision rule: compare your first local-subscriber bill against half of your old workplace premium. Voluntary continuation charges the full salary-based amount, so it wins only when the local calculation would charge more.
Work it through for a ₩3,000,000-a-month earner. Their workplace health premium was ₩215,700 in total; under voluntary continuation they pay all of it, about ₩215,700 a month plus long-term care. If they own an apartment and the local bill lands above that, continuing is the cheaper route for up to three years. This fails for renters with no property and little post-employment income, whose local premium can fall to a fraction of the salary-based figure. For them, voluntary continuation is a straight loss.
The deadline is the part that gets missed. NHIS's own guidance gives applicants two months from the payment due date of the first local-subscriber bill received after leaving; several secondary Korean sources circulate a 14-day figure instead. Work to the earlier date if there is any doubt, then let the 36 months run out and convert automatically.
What the 7.19% actually buys
Coverage is measured by 보장률, the share of total medical spending the insurer pays. In its 2024 Health Insurance Patient Medical Expense Survey, released on 30 December 2025, NHIS put the coverage rate at 64.9%, flat against 2023. The statutory patient share fell 0.6 points to 19.3%, while non-covered spending rose 0.6 points to 15.8% and cancelled the gain out. Tertiary general hospitals covered the most, at 72.2%.
In cash terms, 2024 medical spending including non-covered care reached about ₩138.6 trillion: ₩90.0 trillion paid by the insurer, ₩26.8 trillion in statutory patient shares, ₩21.8 trillion non-covered.
The fund closed 2025 with a current-year surplus of ₩499.6 billion on a cash-flow basis, a fifth consecutive surplus, with accumulated reserves of ₩30.2 trillion against total revenue of ₩102.9 trillion. The trend matters more than the headline: surpluses ran near ₩4.1 trillion in 2023, ₩1.7 trillion in 2024, and under ₩0.5 trillion in 2025. On that trajectory, the 0.1-point rise for 2026 reads as the first of several rather than a one-off, and anyone budgeting more than a year ahead should assume the rate keeps climbing.
This article is general information about how the premium is calculated, not personalised financial or legal advice; individual bills depend on household composition, property holdings and residence status.
Frequently asked questions
How much is Korean national health insurance per month?
In 2026, the average employee pays ₩160,699 a month as their own share, and local-subscriber households average ₩90,242. Foreign local subscribers pay a flat ₩158,630 including long-term care insurance. Individual amounts run from a ₩20,160 floor to a ₩4,591,740 ceiling.
Do foreigners have to pay Korean health insurance?
Yes. Enrolment is mandatory for foreign residents staying six months or longer, and it happens automatically without an application. Foreigners employed by a Korean company are enrolled through the workplace instead, paying 3.595% of salary with the employer matching it.
Is long-term care insurance included in the health insurance premium?
No, it is a separate premium collected on the same bill. In 2026 it costs 0.9448% of income, equal to 13.14% of the health insurance premium, and it is split 50/50 for employees the same way.
What happens if I don't pay?
Unpaid premiums accrue late-payment charges, and NHIS can suspend benefit eligibility, meaning the patient pays the full cost of care rather than the 20% to 60% patient share. Arrears can also be collected through the national tax collection process, and unpaid premiums affect visa extensions for foreign residents.
Can I get money back if my medical bills are huge?
Yes, through the out-of-pocket maximum. Covered patient costs above an income-based annual cap are refunded automatically around the end of August of the following year. The 2025 caps ranged from ₩890,000 to ₩8,260,000. Non-covered treatment, implants and premium rooms are excluded from the calculation.
How does this compare to the rest of a monthly budget in Korea?
At ₩122,021 a month for a ₩3,000,000 earner, health and long-term care insurance costs less than a transport pass plus phone plan for most people. See the full monthly budget in USD for where it sits against rent and utilities.