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

The ministry stated today that it is examining the imposition plan by comprehensively considering the fairness of premium burdens and the impact on low-income daily workers.

Under current law, daily workers' income is subject to health insurance premiums, but they have practically not been levied. This has reportedly led to cases where high-income daily workers pay only the minimum premium or enjoy benefits by being registered as dependents.

In fact, there have been cases such as person A, who earned 140 million won (a daily wage of 600,000 won) from daily construction labor in 2024 while being 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 amendments to laws and decrees.

(Photo: Provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Yonhap News)