Private health insurance ‘necessity’ for Korean families

Nearly eight out of 10 Korean households considered additional private health insurance a necessity even under the obligatory national health insurance scheme, a recent survey found Tuesday.

In 2009, Korean families had an average of 3.62 private health plans, up from 3.48 in 2008, according to a study conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

Of the 6,300 households surveyed, 78 percent said they had private health insurance. A family on average paid 213,626 won per month for those including whole-life and annuity insurances.

The study also found that the subscription rate and number of private insurance plans increased with household income.

The subscription rate among households with an annual income less than 10 million won was 44 percent, while that of those earning more than 30 million won a year was 93 to 95 percent.

For the reasons to newly subscribe private insurance, 46 percent of the respondents said they wanted to protect themselves financially in case of sudden disease or accident, while 35 percent said that national health insurance did not provide enough coverage.

Of those who have canceled private insurance, 37 percent said they could not afford it, 29 percent said their plan lacked sufficient coverage, while 19 percent said the benefits were not sufficient.

“The subscription rate for private insurance was lower among underprivileged people such as low-income households, senior citizens and people with disabilities. The government needs to consider expanding the national health coverage for the more vulnerable groups,” said Chung Young-ho, fellow researcher at the institute and author of the report.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)