Voluntarily and Continuously Insured Persons
Voluntary and Continuous Insurance System- The voluntary and continuous insurance system eases the financial stress experienced by the unemployed by granting them national health insurance at the premium for voluntarily and continuously insured persons, which is lower than the premium for regional insurance (National Health Insurance Service Online – Customer Service - National Health Insurance - Employer - sponsored Insurance Subscriber by Acquisition or Registration).
Eligibility for Voluntary and Continuous Insurance- Those whose employment has been terminated, those who retained insurance eligibility for 1 year or more during the 18-month period prior to employment termination can apply to the Service to maintain their status as an employer-sponsored insurance subscriber in the period from the day on which the first regional insurance premium notice is received after becoming a regional insurance subscriber to the day which marks 2 months after the notified due date (Article 110(1) of the National Health Insurance Act and Article 62 of the Enforcement Regulations of the National Health Insurance Act).
Period of Voluntary and Continuous Insurance- A voluntarily and continuously insured person maintains the status of an employer-sponsored insurance subscriber under the following classifications, not exceeding 36 months after the date of employment termination. However, the status cannot be maintained if, after applying for voluntary and continuous insurance, the applicant does not pay the first installment of the employer-sponsored insurance premium for 2 months after the due date (Paragraph 2 of Article 110 of the National Health Insurance Act and Article 77(1) of the Enforcement Decree of the National Health Insurance Act).
· A period until the day before the voluntarily and continuously insured person changes his/her status under Subparagraph 2 of Article 9(1) of the National Health Insurance Act.
· A period until the day before the voluntarily and continuously insured person loses his/her status under Article 10(1) of the National Health Insurance Act.
- Where a voluntarily and continuously insured person who becomes an eligible recipient under Subparagraph 2 of Article 3(1) of the Medical Care Assistance Act and thus loses his/her status as an employer-sponsored insurance subscriber re-acquire his/her status as a subscriber within 36 months of the day after employment termination, he/she may file an application for reapplication of voluntary and continuous insurance within the period prescribed by the National Health Insurance Service (Beginning of Article 77(2) of the Enforcement Decree of the National Health Insurance Act).
· In this case, an applicant may maintain his/her status as a voluntarily and continuously insured person for a prescribed period (as mentioned above) from the date on which subscriber status was required (Latter section of Article 77(2) of the Enforcement Decree of the National Health Insurance Act).
Premium- For the monthly remuneration of a voluntarily and continuously insured person, the average of monthly remuneration during most recent 12 months shall be calculated as the average of his or her monthly remuneration. A premium calculated based on the average monthly remuneration must be paid in full by the voluntarily and continuously insured person (Article 110(3) and (5) of the National Health Insurance Act).