The main purpose of this study is to prepare for the improvement ways of the National Health Insurance premium reduction system for farmers and fishermen. The National Health Insurance premium reduction system is a system to reduce an economic burden of the farmers and fishermen whose accessibility of medical service are poor, and economic power is weak. However, the reduction system as opposed to high income strata, is pointed out as a social problem in a social fairness-related dimension.
Farmers and fishermen are taking the additional insurance premium reduction for them as well as the premium reduction(22%) for rural inhabitants from 2004. The additional insurance premium reduction rate increased from 8% in 2004 to 28% in 2006. Though it went down every year, the calculated medical insurance premium of farmers and fishermen rose, their substantial medical insurance premium burden decreased.
In January 2006, the number of households having the insurance premium reduction support for farmers and fishermen is 535,826. Most of these are belonging to low health insurance premium class, the small part of these are belong to high health insurance premium class. Most precedent studies insisted on the graded health insurance premium reduction method, and making health insurance premium reduction support a difference. The precedent studies insisted that the reduction support rate of the lower tier should be increased, but that of the higher tier should be decreased.
In this study, the premium reduction ways to reduce an economic burden of the farmers and fishermen were examined. The premium reduction ways were based on the income re-distribution principle of social insurance.
There are strength and weakness respectively so that we have an exclusion, reduction, exemption by health insurance premium reduction support method. In this study, the graded health insurance premium reduction methods were examined chiefly.
According to the simulation analysis result, the desirable insurance premium reduction method is as follows: the reduction rate for low class is 51 ～60%, the reduction rate for intermediate class is 50%, the reduction method for high class is fixed amount reduction. In order to obtain the desired result by using this reduction method, the related laws and the National Health Insurance premium levy system must be improved.
Researchers: Kyeong-Hwan Choi, Dae-Shik Park
E-mail Address: kyeong@krei.re.kr