Caregiver Who Detached Shoe Cabinet Door to Fake Work Hours Loses Lawsuit

A court has ruled that it is lawful for the National Health Insurance Service to claw back care benefits from a nursing facility after a caregiver inflated work hours by carrying a commute-tracking device in their vehicle.

The Seoul Administrative Court, under Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-won of the 5th Administrative Division, recently ruled against a long-term care facility that had filed a lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service, demanding the cancellation of the benefit recovery order.

In November 2023, following an on-site investigation, the National Health Insurance Service notified the facility that it would recover approximately 37.4 million won, citing fraudulent claims for long-term care benefits.

The issue stemmed from a caregiver at the facility, identified as A, who had claimed and received benefit payments between 2021 and 2023 for home care services that were not actually provided.

Caregivers are required to record their arrival and departure times by tapping their mobile phones against a tag installed at the recipient's home. However, investigations revealed that A had detached the shoe cabinet door where the tag was attached, kept it in their car, and used it to register work hours at will.

The facility where A worked filed a lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service, claiming, "The tag was only detached to record the end time of services when accompanying the recipient on outings, and it was not used to register false work hours."

However, the court ruled in favor of the National Health Insurance Service, noting that A had admitted to inflating work hours to claim benefits in a written statement submitted during the on-site investigation.

The court also cited as evidence the fact that many of the locations where A recorded the end of their shifts via the tag were near A's own home.

Furthermore, the court pointed out that according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's notification on standards for providing long-term care benefits, home visit services are in principle to be provided at the recipient's home, and this does not apply to accompanying recipients on outings, trips, or hobby activities. Therefore, the court concluded that it is difficult to view the time A spent on outings with the recipient as the provision of care services.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.