The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on the 8th that it decided to freeze the 2027 health insurance premium rate at 7.19%, the same as this year, at a meeting of the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee, the program's decision-making body. The amount charged per property premium point for self-employed subscribers was also set at 211.5 won, the same as this year. The premium rate had been frozen at 7.09% for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025 before rising 1.48% this year, the first increase in three years.
The ministry cited the current state of the health insurance fund and expectations of higher premium revenue as reasons for the freeze. "We took into account the 1.1 trillion won increase in government support next year and the fact that additional premium revenue is expected to rise as the economy recovers, led by the semiconductor industry," Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Hyung-hoon said. "We projected 3.8 trillion won in additional premium revenue from companies posting strong earnings, including Samsung Electronics, and reflected that in our fiscal outlook."
The National Health Insurance Service, which manages and executes the fund, said it will secure fiscal soundness by blocking leakage and improving spending efficiency. "We need to cut unnecessary outlays and spend more where it is needed," NHIS Chairman Kang Cheong-hee said at a press briefing. "We must reduce improper claims such as those from unlicensed hospitals and rationalize spending by adjusting fees in areas of excessive testing, such as MRIs, and overcompensation."
The government also unveiled a "first-stage innovation plan for health insurance coverage" that significantly expands benefits, focused on severe and rare intractable diseases. It plans to provide 600 billion to 800 billion won in annual medical support to a total of 1.97 million people.
First, the co-payment rate under the special calculation program, which applies to 1.36 million patients with rare and severe intractable diseases, will fall from the current 10% to 7% in December this year. It will be cut further to 5% in the first half of 2028. As a result, the average annual out-of-pocket cost per patient will drop from 750,000 won now to 530,000 won next year and 390,000 won in 2028.
Support for severe diabetes will also expand. Insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors, currently provided mainly to type 1 diabetes patients, will be extended regardless of disease type to patients with severe type 2 diabetes whose pancreatic function has significantly deteriorated. About 11,000 severe type 2 diabetes patients will newly qualify. Type 1 patients are expected to save an average of 360,000 won a year, and severe type 2 patients 4.18 million won.
Home care support will also be strengthened for patients with glycogen storage disease and neurogenic bladder. Glycogen storage disease patients will receive blood glucose test strips and electrodes for continuous glucose monitoring, cutting costs by about 3.5 million won per person annually. Expanded support for self-catheterization catheters for neurogenic bladder patients will reduce medical costs by an average of 1.55 million won a year.
Dental coverage will expand from January next year. Two dental implants will be covered for people aged 65 and older, benefiting about 70,000 people by an average of 2.28 million won each. Coverage of light-cured composite resin used to treat cavities in children and adolescents will expand from those aged 12 and under to those aged 13 and under. "Under the roadmap to strengthen health insurance coverage, we will continue to push for expanded benefits," a ministry official said.
