Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jcm87]

I'm sure that at least 5 people will come on here and tell me to use the 'search feature' on this topic but I've been doing that for hours and haven't been able to come to a conclusion. Everyone gives contradictory information (including the links from the FAQ page) and a lot of people seem to disagree on this matter. So I was wondering if there is an accepted answer to this and if someone could answer it or provide a link to the answer. Which is best, national health insurance, some sort of private insurance, travel insurance, using the insurance in your home country, or something else?

Here's my story: my contract says "The employee shall be covered by medical benefits under the Travel Insurance. Half of the premium shall be paid by the employer with the other half paid by the employer." At the very bottom of the contract, it says: "Additional matter : This school doesn�t pay into pension for the Employees. However, the Employee will be covered by medical benefits under the Private Medical Insurance Company. The cost of this coverage will be borne 50% by employer."

So I ask my recruiter to get the national health insurance (and pension plan), to which she says no, that part of the contract is unchangeable. So I ask the guy working at the hagwon about it and he said the private insurance was fine and not worth worrying about. Then he talked to the hagwon boss who apparently said that if I wanted to I could opt for the national health insurance, but that it's more expensive and that the private insurance is better. The boss is very good and trustworthy according to the guy working there. I just sent an email to the recruiter asking for specifics about the private health insurance but haven't heard back yet.

I am covered by my parents' insurance here in the states (I'm under 25) but apparently that probably won't work in Korea. A lot of people say to never accept a contract without national health insurance and are very adamant about how important it is, but always without saying why specifically. I've heard other people say on some threads that they recommend travel insurance over the Korean national health insurance because it's much cheaper. Someone else though said travel insurance is not good if you're working in Korea because it requires you to leave the country for serious treatment. I've heard mixed reviews about Korean national health insurance. Some say it's great, others say it's too expensive...some say it doesn't cover you well enough. I also remember reading a post that said if you have a medical issue you should go to Thailand for treatment because it'll be much better than Korea. I've also heard some people question the quality of Korean health care.

Basically there's just a bunch of contradictory information out there and the same questions keep getting asked over and over again because there's not really a clear answer. Any help would be greatly appreciated by everyone here so that people don't have to keep asking the same questions.

[J.D.]

National insurance is the best, don't sign a contract that weasels out of enrolling you in the system.

[David Gerrington]

[sojusucks]

You should always make sure you have health insurance. You never know what will happen. If you are a full-time teacher you''re supposed to be covered by Korean law. You can visit the health insurance office and ask about your status.

[nathanrutledge]

How sick or injured are you planning to get?

The National Insurance plan only covers illnesses, and it doesn't even cover every illness. There was an article a while back in the Joongang Ilbo about Koreans buying cancer insurance because the national plan does not cover it.

It really comes down to personal choice. You get hurt, you're paying for it yourself. You get cancer, you're paying for it yourself. You travel overseas, you pay for it yourself. The National plan is really very sparse.

That being said, you get a worldwide accident/major medical policy, in addition to the national plan, you'll have coverage for pretty much any situation that arises. Travel insurance is risky, you really have to check on the policies because you are NOT traveling, you are living in Korea. Most US policies don't cover stuff outside of the US, so you have to check that, too.

Long story short, read the fine print, get the coverage you are comfortable with.

[NYC_Gal]

[RMNC]

The government health insurance is also tied to the pension. Anyone who gets anything else is cheating themselves, in my opinion.

[hogwonguy1979]

if i recall wasnt there something in the immig law that said if a company sponsered somebody on an e2 visa etc they were SUPPOSED to enroll them in the nhic in order to get the visa?

emphasis is on SUPPOSED, remember there were ways around it as we all know in the Bill Kapoun incident.

IMHO I wouldnt take a job that didnt enroll you in the nhic. remember accidents happen, heck you could step off a kurb wrong and break a leg, tear an acl etc you need coverage for those things

[jcm87]

Well since I'm young the only thing I'm worried about is getting injured playing soccer or getting hit by a car...or perhaps contracting some sort of disease. So if I go for a Korean insurance plus some sort of international insurance as nathanrutledge suggested, do I go for private insurance plus this insurance of NHIC plus this insurance? The private insurance is much cheaper, and would the international insurance cover all the important stuff? RMNC suggests the NHIC because of the pension plan, but other than that what are the differences in coverage between private insurance and the NHIC?

My biggest question though is why would the recruiter lie to me? Upon receiving the contract I ask to get the insurance changed to the NHIC and she responds and says that that part of the contract is unchangeable. I've heard people say that they are legally obligated to provide this insurance (but from what I understand this depends on how many staff are at the hagwon), so it was a red flag for me. But then the guy working at the hagwon talks to the director, who says he'd be willing to do the NHIC if I wanted (though he said it was worse and more expensive). So to me it sounds like the recruiter didn't even ask the hagwon guy about this. Why? She was willing to change some other details about the contract (although very small). What does she have to gain by not getting me in the NHIC?

[jcm87]

oops

[tophatcat]

I would never sign a contract that doesn't include National Health Insurance, or Pension.

[Young FRANKenstein]

As of Jan. 1, 2006, you can't opt out of NHIC. You can get private insurance if you want, but it will not REPLACE coverage by NHIC, just SUPPLEMENT it.

They are screwing you, both with insurance and pension.

Run. Run far, run fast.

[nathanrutledge]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Skippy]

Welcome to the board! Everything about it is contradictory. So I will try and give some general advice.

OK! First off many hagwons do not like to pay insurance because they just want to be cheap and save money. Actually if schools could pay ONLY the national insurance many would but many now HAVE to pay the medical with the PENSION. Schools do NOT want to pay the pension. Once again under the Korean law if a school gets National Medical Insurance they have the go into the National Pension Scheme.

Now some School have some tricks in which to NOT pay.....

They try and get private insurance which I think can work TO not work at all. Meaning if you go to the doctor for a cold the private might not work or the doctor might refuse to take and ask you to pay the full rate. So by getting the private the school can avoid paying pension.

Another trick many schools try is the Independent Contractor route. They say the teacher is an independent contractor and thus they do not have to pay medical and pension. Now I THINK this is illegal for teachers under E-2 visa. Thru other people say it is legit.

Then there is the nod nod win wink system, teacher signs contract saying there will be insurance or not, but the teacher will not apply for it or ask about it. If the teacher gets sick the school will pay for the visit. This one always in my opinion blows up. If you are regularly sick (flu, tonsillitis, allergies, etc) it starts to pile up and schools that will not want to pay that 60,000 for insurance they will certainly will be too cheap paying for a couple of 15,000 won doctor visits plus drugs. I have seen a couple of schools that have had a teacher get seriously sick or hurt and then firing said teacher to just not pay the bills.

Finally, the we are small route. Now (I think) if a school has under 5 employees or something like that the school does not need to sign up for the insurance or pension. But in the end many hagwons still end up with more then required employees to qualify. The teacher can still sign up for National but the school does not have to pay.



Some people say to get private insurance to supplement the national insurance. Think of it this way. If you get into an accident the national will cover a small part the private will cover the rest or most of the rest. B ut this still does not cover you if you still do not have the national.

As to forcing a school to pay into can be a difficult route that will more likely in the end just get you fired. Or in your case just not hired! If you want to risk it - ok and good luck, but if not move on to the next school.


one hint to looking on eslcafe is try using google! use the following line.

site:forums.eslcafe.com/korea WORDS LOOKING FOR
OR
site:forums.eslcafe.com/korea "WORDS LOOKING FOR"

Good Luck.