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NHRCK Recommends Addressing Health Insurance-related Discrimination concerning Divorce
Date : 2006.09.28 00:00:00
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In situations where a divorced sibling of an employee insured by the National Health Insurance Plan is not recognized as a dependent of the insured even if the sibling is economically dependent upon the insured due to lack of remuneration or income, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) has recommended that the Minister of Health and Welfare amend the criteria for dependent status regarding standards for recognition of dependents under the Enforcement Rule of the National Health Insurance Act.
The complainant, known only as Cho, attempted to register his divorced elder brother as a dependent under the National Health Insurance Plan. He was unable to do so, however, on the grounds that a divorced person is not eligible to be acknowledged as a dependent. Arguing that this constituted a form of unfair discrimination against divorced persons, Cho filed a complaint with the NHRCK in April 2006.
According to the findings of the NHRCK, the Ministry of Health and Welfare sets forth the standards regarding recognition of a sibling of an insured person as a dependent in the Enforcement Rule of the National Health Insurance Act: (i) if the sibling lives with the insured, he or she must be unmarried and either without parents or with parents who are not receiving any remuneration or income; and (ii) if the sibling does not live with the insured, the sibling must be unmarried and either without parents and other siblings or living with parents and siblings who are not receiving any remuneration or income. This means that an unmarried sibling of the insured person who shares a residence with the insured due to financial necessity is recognized as a dependent of the insured. However, in cases where the sibling of an insured is divorced, he or she is regarded as an unmarried person and recognized as a dependent only if certain criteria are met, regardless of financial status. In the case of female siblings, they must first be reinstated in their original family register as a result of the divorce. Male siblings who are divorced are eligible for dependent status only if the divorce was for reasons such as an incurable disease and mental or physical disorders. Accordingly, a divorced sibling of an insured employee is not considered a dependent under the National Health Insurance Plan unless there are special circumstances.
The NHRCK concluded that it would be reasonable to recognize a divorced sibling of an insured person as a dependent to the extent that the sibling relies financially upon and lives with the insured due to a lack of financial means. The NHRCK also determined that the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which operates the government’s social insurance policies, is duly obligated to devise necessary procedures including those to confirm whether a divorced sibling is financially dependent. Based on the judgment that it is in accordance with the legislative purpose of the National Health Insurance Act to recognize a financially dependent sibling irrespective of that person’s marital status, the NHRCK recommended to the Minister of Health and Welfare that the criteria for dependent status, within the standards for recognition of dependents under the Enforcement Rule of the National Health Insurance Act, be modified.
