The Ministry of Health and Welfare is considering a plan to impose health insurance premiums on daily workers' income, which has conventionally been exempt from premiums as it was regarded as income for vulnerable groups.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare stated today (July 25) that it is reviewing implementation plans by comprehensively considering the fairness of premium burdens and the impact on low-income daily workers.

Under current laws, daily workers' income is subject to health insurance premiums, but they have virtually not been levied. Due to this, there have reportedly been cases where high-earning daily workers paid only the minimum premium or registered as dependents to receive benefits.

In fact, there was a case in 2024 where a person surnamed A, who earned 140 million won (a daily wage of 600,000 won) from daily construction labor, was registered as a dependent.

The ministry added that the criteria for imposing health insurance premiums on daily workers' income have not yet been finalized, and that this matter requires deliberation by the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee and revisions to laws and decrees.