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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, August 25, 2025 — A recent survey shows that the vast majority of Koreans prefer freezing or reducing next year’s National Health Insurance premium rates.
According to the 2025 Public Perception Survey on National Health Insurance Issues conducted by the Korea Employers Federation (KEF) on 1,007 adults nationwide, 45.2% of respondents favored keeping the premium rate unchanged, while 35.1% called for a reduction. Only 19.7% supported an increase. Among those who supported a hike, 10.2% favored an increase of less than 1%, 6.5% supported 1–2%, 2.0% supported 2–3%, and just 1.0% supported an increase of more than 3%.
When asked about the burden of premiums relative to their income, 77.6% of respondents said premiums felt burdensome, 17.6% said they were “average,” and only 4.8% said they were “not burdensome.”
On the issue of raising the statutory cap on the premium rate from the current 8%, 54.1% expressed opposition, while 32.3% were supportive. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is scheduled to finalize the 2026 premium rate at the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee meeting on August 28.
For the first time since KEF began conducting this survey, a majority of respondents expressed positive views on the introduction of a sickness benefit scheme funded by health insurance. Support stood at 36.1% in 2021, 43.8% in 2023, and has now surpassed the 50% threshold. KEF analyzed this shift as a reflection of heightened public demand for stronger social safety nets in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
알파경제 Kim Jisun (stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
