Korea’s National Health Insurance Service May Go Bankrupt in Three Years

Via a reader tip comes news that Korea’s National Health Insurance Service may go bankrupt by 2023 due to changes made by the Moon administration:

The prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is causing an unexpectedly large health insurance deficit this year. Critics were quick to blame the deficit on President Moon Jae-in’s policy, dubbed “Mooncare,” which plans to expand the coverage of the state-run health insurance to 70 percent by 2023, and warned of its failure. But experts and the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) view it’s too early to worry.

According to data from NHIS, the health insurance deficit reached 943.5 billion won in the first half of the year, up 548.9 billion won from a year earlier, as the country has suffered from financial difficulties due to the unprecedented pandemic.

The deficit marked the third year in a row that the health insurance balance has been in the red. In 2019 the current account deficit stood at 3.2 trillion won and in 2018 it was at 177.8 billion won after running a surplus for seven straight years. 

The administration vowed to continue expanding NHIS coverage, especially for those in the low-income brackets, children and elderly, but Mooncare is facing strong protest from political opponents and medical doctors.

Critics of Mooncare claim premium increases are inevitable and the health insurance fund may run out of money as early as 2023 if the President maintains his rigid stance on boosting the health insurance coverage rate to 70 percent by the end of his term. Conservatives warns that if Mooncare’s pace remains unchanged, health insurance finances will be left severely depleted.

Korea Times

It seems like common sense that you cannot expand coverage of something without increasing taxes to pay for it. However, with politicians they like to make voters think they are getting something for nothing and someone will eventually have to pay for it long after the politician is out of office.