Korea Health Insurance Calculator for Foreigners

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Korea Health Insurance Calculator for Foreigners

Estimate your monthly National Health Insurance (NHIS) premium as either an employee or a regional subscriber, using 2026 rates.

If you’re hired directly by a Korean company, you’re a workplace subscriber (직장가입자). Your premium is a fixed percentage of your salary, split 50/50 with your employer, and deducted automatically from your pay.
KRW
If you’re not on a Korean company’s payroll (self-employed, unemployed, a dependent who doesn’t qualify as someone’s beneficiary, etc.) and you’ve been in Korea 6+ months, you’re required to join as a regional subscriber (지역가입자). For most foreigners, a special minimum premium applies instead of the usual income/property calculation.
General Most D, E, F, H visas (not listed below)
Student / Trainee D-2, D-4, C-9, C-10
F-5 / F-6 Permanent residency / marriage
0
Unlike Korean households, each foreign family member is usually billed as their own separate one-person household — count anyone else in your family who is also a foreign national without their own employer coverage.
Your monthly deduction (employee share)
₩0
Automatically taken from your pay each month
Health insurance (3.595% of salary)₩0
Long-term care insurance₩0
Your total monthly share₩0
Employer pays the same amount₩0
Your estimated monthly premium
₩0
Figures use 2026 NHIS rates: employee health insurance 3.595% of monthly salary, long-term care insurance at 0.9448%/7.19% of the health insurance amount, and the 2026 average regional premium for foreign/overseas-Korean subscribers of ₩158,630/month (₩140,210 health + ₩18,420 long-term care), halved for eligible D-2/D-4/C-9/C-10 visa holders. If your actual income- and property-based regional assessment would be higher than this minimum, NHIS charges the higher amount instead — this calculator cannot know your Korean income or assets, so treat the regional-subscriber figure as a floor, not a guaranteed final bill. F-5 and F-6 holders are assessed the same way as Korean nationals, which this tool does not calculate. Confirm your exact premium with the National Health Insurance Service (1577-1000, nhis.or.kr) or your local NHIS branch.

Why Foreign Families Often Pay More for Health Insurance Than They Expect

Korea’s National Health Insurance (NHIS) is mandatory for almost everyone staying 6+ months — including foreigners. But the way premiums are calculated depends heavily on your employment status, and there’s one rule that surprises nearly every foreign family: each foreign family member is usually billed as their own separate one-person household, unlike Korean families, whose premiums are pooled together. That means a spouse and two kids, all foreign nationals without their own employer coverage, could mean four separate monthly bills, not one.

If you’re employed by a Korean company, it’s simple: your premium is 3.595% of your salary (matched equally by your employer), plus a small long-term care insurance add-on.

If you’re not employed — self-employed, unemployed, or a dependent who doesn’t qualify for coverage under someone else’s plan — you’re a “regional subscriber,” and for most foreigners, a special 2026 minimum premium of ₩158,630/month applies, regardless of your actual income, unless your calculated income+property assessment comes out even higher.

Exceptions that matter:

  • D-2/D-4/C-9/C-10 (student/trainee) visa holders get a 50% discount: ₩79,320/month in 2026.
  • F-5 (permanent residency) and F-6 (marriage immigrant) visa holders are assessed the same way as Korean nationals — no special foreigner minimum applies.

How to use it:

  1. Choose “I’m Employed” or “Not Employed / Self-Employed.”
  2. For employees: enter your monthly salary to see your exact deduction.
  3. For regional subscribers: select your visa category and how many other family members also need separate coverage, to see your full household cost.

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