Press Conference Condemning the Worsened Health Insurance System
That Strengthens Discrimination Against Migrants
◉ Date and time: Monday, August 26, 2019, 2:00 p.m.
◉ Place: In front of the Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae)
◉ Program:
Moderator: Lee Han-sook (Director, Migration and Human Rights Institute)
Progress report: Kim Sa-gang (Research Fellow, Migration and Human Rights Institute)
Remarks: Kwak Jae-seok (Director, Korea Institute for Overseas Korean Policy Development)
Park Young-ah (Attorney, GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation)
Udaya Rai (President, Migrants’ Trade Union)
Cho Young-kwan (Attorney, Migrant Center Friend)
Reading of the press conference statement: Kim Jin-young (Secretary General, Neomeo, a support organization for Koryoin)
Cho Joo-yeon (Secretary General, Migration to Asia Peace, MAP)
◉ Organized by: Joint Action for the Abolition of Health Insurance Discrimination Against Migrants
고려인제도개선위원회, 난민네트워크, (사)한국이주동포정책개발연구원, 중국동포지원센터, 이주노동자 차별철폐와 인권·노동권 실현을 위한 공동행동, 이주인권연대, 한중커뮤니티리더스 삼강포럼
◉ Contact: Lee Han-sook, Director, Migration and Human Rights Institute, 010-7755-6801
※ Press conference statement
Examples of discrimination against migrants in the health insurance system
Statement of the Press Conference Condemning the Worsened Health Insurance System That Strengthens Discrimination Against Migrants
On July 16 of this year, enrollment in health insurance became mandatory for migrants staying in Korea. All migrants who cannot enroll in employer-based health insurance are now required to enroll in regional health insurance. If this meant that all migrants could now be covered by health insurance, it would be welcome news. However, from this year migrants have begun to receive health insurance premium bills that are three or four times higher at the least, and dozens of times higher at the most. The Ministry of Justice has also said that it will not extend the status of stay of those who do not pay these premiums. Mandatory health insurance enrollment has become a bomb that threatens the very stay of migrants.
Even before this, a migrant who wished to enroll in regional health insurance had to pay at least the previous year’s average premium without exception. This year that amount is 113,050 won. On top of that, the categories of status of stay that had been subject to the same standards as Korean nationals were reduced, leaving only permanent resident (F-5) and marriage migrant (F-6), and excluding visiting and cohabiting (F-1) and residence (F-2).
In addition, as a rule migrants are now treated as a household of one person, and only a spouse and minor children can be recognized as household members as an exception. Elderly parents, and even adult children who cannot work because they are studying, have a disability or are ill, are no longer recognized as part of the family. Moreover, the documents required to prove family relationships either do not exist at all or cost an enormous amount of money and time to obtain, so that in some cases even a spouse and minor children cannot be registered as household members. As a result, refugees, humanitarian status holders and overseas Koreans who stay as families have begun to receive several premium bills at home, adding up to more than 300,000 or 400,000 won. No exceptions were made for migrants whose homes are running out of food, or who are giving up treatment because they cannot afford hospital bills, whatever their circumstances.
Among migrant workers, those in agriculture, livestock and fishing, day laborers, care and domestic workers, and workers in the arts and entertainment, whose working conditions are especially poor and whose wages are low, have not been able to enroll in employer-based health insurance even if they wanted to. The same applies to workers whose employers do not enroll them even though the workplace is subject to mandatory employer-based enrollment. These workers now also have to enroll in regional insurance, and they too must pay at least 113,050 won per person.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice says it will use migrants’ status of stay as collateral so that health insurance premiums can be collected easily. Those who fail to pay premiums up to three times will be allowed only a short stay (within six months), and those who fail to pay four times will not be allowed to stay at all.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare says that the purpose of this revision of the health insurance system was to have all migrants enroll in health insurance and thereby eliminate blind spots in medical coverage. Is that really so? In fact, the current government, which pledged to strengthen health insurance coverage, ran into opposition to raising health insurance premiums, and the means it found to fill the deteriorating finances of health insurance is to hit migrants with a bomb of health insurance premiums, using their status of stay as collateral. Is this not the case?
In July, the Joint Action for the Abolition of Health Insurance Discrimination Against Migrants was formed. It began with Koryoin (ethnic Koreans from the former Soviet Union) organizations, Chinese Korean organizations and refugee organizations at its core, but a growing number of migrants and allies share the concern, and the group is growing. This press conference has been held today to make the discriminatory health insurance system for migrants widely known and to protest its injustice.
We pledge to keep fighting until a health insurance system based on equity and fairness, a health insurance system that actually guarantees migrants’ right to health, and a health insurance system that cares for vulnerable migrants is created, and we make the following demands.
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Abolish all discrimination against migrants in the health insurance system!
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Impose fair premiums on migrant regional subscribers according to their income and property!
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Apply the same scope of household members to migrant regional subscribers as to Koreans!
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Establish a reasonable system through which migrants can have their family relationships recognized in Korea!
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Grant long-term resident migrants eligibility for regional health insurance at the same time as alien registration or the report of domestic place of residence!
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Include enrollment in employer-based health insurance in the employment permit conditions for migrant workers at all workplaces, including agriculture, livestock and fishing!
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Prepare measures to supervise workplaces subject to mandatory health insurance enrollment that fail to enroll their workers!
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Apply the same conditions for reduction of health insurance premiums to migrants as to Korean nationals, and guarantee the right to health of vulnerable migrants!
August 26, 2019
All organizers and participants of the press conference
고려인제도개선위원회 (고려인지원단체 (사)너머, 광주 고려인마을, 경주고려인통합지원센터, 경주시외국인도움센터, 원곡법률사무소, 인천고려인문화원)
난민네트워크 (공익법센터 어필, 공익변호사와 함께하는 동행, 공익사단법인 정, 공익인권법재단 공감, 공익인권센터 드림(DREAM), 국제난민지원단체 피난처, 글로벌호프, 난민인권센터, 동두천난민공동체, 사단법인 두루, 순천이주민지원센터, 아시아의친구들, 아시아평화를향한이주MAP, 이주여성을위한문화경제공동체 에코팜므, 이주민지원공익센터 감동, 의정부 EXODUS, 이주민지원센터친구, 천주교 제주교구 이주사목센터 나오미, 재단법인 동천, 제주평화인권연구소 왓, 파주 EXODUS, 한국이주인권센터, 휴먼아시아)
두레방 쉼터, (사)한국이주동포정책개발연구원, 아시아의친구들
외국인이주·노동운동협의회 (부천이주노동복지센터, (사)지구촌사랑나눔, (사)한국이주민건강협회 희망의 친구들, (사)한국이주여성인권센터, 순천이주민지원센터, 서울외국인노동자센터, 아산이주노동자센터, 아시아인권문화연대, 원불교서울외국인센터, 남양주시외국인복지센터, 외국인이주노동자인권을위한모임, 용인이주노동자쉼터, 의정부EXODUS, 인천외국인노동자센터, 파주샬롬의집, 포천나눔의집, 함께하는공동체)
이주노동자 차별철폐와 인권·노동권 실현을 위한 공동행동 (건강권실현을위한보건의료단체연합, 경기이주공대위, 공익인권법재단 공감, 구속노동자후원회, 노동당, 노동사회과학연구소, 노동전선, 노동자연대, 녹색당, 대한불교조계종사회노동위원회, 문화연대, 민주사회를위한변호사모임노동위원회, 민주주의법학연구회, 민주화를위한전국교수협의회, 사회변혁노동자당, 사회진보연대, 이주노동자노동조합(MTU), (사)이주노동희망센터, 이주노동자운동후원회, 이주민방송(MWTV), 이주민센터 친구, 전국민주노동조합총연맹, 전국빈민연합, 전국철거민연합, 전국학생행진, 정의당, 지구인의정류장, 천주교인권위원회, 필리핀공동체카사마코, (사)한국불교종단협의회인권위원회, 한국비정규노동센터)
이주인권연대 ((경산(경북)이주노동자센터, 경주이주노동자센터, 아시아의 창, 울산이주민센터, 이주민과 함께, 이주민노동인권센터, 이주와 인권연구소, 지구인의 정류장, 천안모이세, 한국이주인권센터)
중국동포지원센터, 한중커뮤니티리더스 삼강포럼