Retire, become a regional subscriber to Korea's National Health Insurance, and the bill has two lines: income and property. Act art. 69(5) says the premium is "the sum" of the two, and each is worked out differently. Transcribed from the statute and its annexes, it comes out like this.
1. The same 24m won a year is 71,900 won a month as a pension and 143,800 won as business or rent. Only wages and pensions are assessed at 50%.
2. Property is nothing up to 100m, then 4,653 won from the next 10,000 won. Take off 100m, score the rest in 60 grades, multiply by 211.5 won.
3. Even with no income at all, 20,160 won is charged. Monthly income of 280,000 or under gets the minimum premium; property is added on top.
4. The same 24m pension costs 81,348 won with a 300m rental deposit and 209,368 won with a 600m home. That is the monthly bill with long-term care included.
Enter income and housing, and it lists what monthly income is assessed as, which grade the property falls in, and what the health and long-term care premiums come to, line by line.
It follows Act art. 69(5) as written. A regional subscriber's monthly premium is monthly income × the premium rate + property points × the amount per point, set per household. Monthly income is annual income divided by 12 and assessed (Act art. 71(2)): under Rule art. 44, interest, dividend, business and other income count whole and wages and pensions at 50%, interest plus dividends of 10m won a year or under are not added at all, and where monthly income is 280,000 won or under the floor divided by the rate is used instead (art. 44(3)). For 2026 the rate is 719/10,000 (7.19%) and each point is worth 211.5 won (Decree art. 44). Property follows Decree Annex 4: the property tax base of land, buildings, homes, ships and aircraft plus, for those with no home, a rent value of (deposit + rent × 40) × 30% (Rule Annex 8), less 100m won, then scored in 60 grades. Tax bases use the 2026 fair-market ratios in Local Tax Act Decree art. 109(1) (homes 60%, a single home 43, 44 or 45%, land and buildings 70%). The monthly premium is capped at 4,591,740 won and floored at 20,160 (Ministry notice 2025-222), and the long-term care premium is the health premium times 0.9448% over 7.19% (LTC Act art. 9(1), Decree art. 4). Fractions of a won are dropped; the Service truncates to 10 won. Other household members, reported housing-loan deductions, ships and aircraft, cars (excluded since February 2024) and premium reductions are not included. An estimate — confirm with the NHIS (1577-1000) simulator and your bill.
The same 24m: 71,900 won as a pension, 143,800 won as business
A regional subscriber's monthly income is annual income divided by twelve and "assessed as prescribed by ministerial rule" (Act art. 71(2)). The assessment is Rule art. 44(2): interest, dividend, business and other income at "the whole amount", wages and pensions at "50 percent of the amount". Paragraph 3 applies this to regional subscribers.
So 24m won a year as a National Pension is assessed at 1m a month, times 7.19% = 71,900 won; the same amount as rental income is 2m a month, 143,800 won. Interest and dividends count whole, but 10m won a year or under is not added at all (art. 44(1) proviso). At 10m the income premium is the 20,160 won minimum; one won more and the month is assessed at 833,333 won, giving 59,916 won.
| 24m a year of … | Monthly income | Income premium |
|---|---|---|
| wages, pensions | 50% → 1m won | 71,900 won |
| business, rent, other | whole → 2m won | 143,800 won |
| interest, dividends | whole → 2m won | 143,800 won |
| interest, dividends of 10m | not added → 0 | minimum 20,160 won |
| Rate 7.19% (Decree art. 44(1)). Where monthly income is 280,000 won or under, the floor divided by the rate is used as monthly income (Rule art. 44(3)), so even zero income pays 20,160 won. | ||
This is the reverse of the dependant test. When deciding whether someone can be a dependant, pensions count in full (the dependant checker); when charging a regional subscriber, they count by half. Same Rule art. 44, but paragraphs 1 and 2 serve different purposes.
Property: nothing to 100m, then 4,653 won from the next 10,000 won
Property points come from Decree Annex 4: "the sum of the following amounts, less 100m won and the amounts in art. 42-2(3), divided into grades" — item (a) being the property tax base of land, buildings, homes, ships and aircraft, item (b) the rent value for those with no home. The table has 60 grades: the first, "4.5m won or under", is 22 points, the last, "over 7,781.24m", 2,341.
Points times 211.5 won is the monthly property premium (Decree art. 44(2)). So up to 100m it is nothing, and at 100m plus 10,000 won it becomes 22 × 211.5 = 4,653 won. At 600m, 500m remains, grade 33 at 812 points, 171,738 won.
Rent counts at 30 percent
Without a home of your own, the rental is your property. Rule Annex 8 puts it at [deposit + (monthly rent × 40)] × 30%. A 300m deposit is 90m won, inside the 100m allowance, so the property premium is zero; a 500m deposit is 150m won, less 100m leaves 50m, grade 11 at 268 points, 56,682 won.
| Property (total) | Less 100m | Grade, points | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300m deposit (90m won) | 0 | — | 0 won |
| 500m deposit (150m won) | 50m won | 11, 268 | 56,682 won |
| 600m home, single (264m won) | 164m won | 22, 535 | 113,152 won |
| 600m home, one of two (360m won) | 260m won | 27, 659 | 139,378 won |
| Home tax base = assessed value × fair-market ratio (Local Tax Act Decree art. 109(1), 2026: homes 60%, a single home 43% to 300m, 44% to 600m, 45% above). No other property assumed. Cars left the property base in February 2024. | |||
The same 24m pension: 81,348 won or 239,040 won, by the home
Take three people with a 24m won pension and nothing else. The income premium is 71,900 won for all three. With a 300m rental deposit the property is zero, so the health premium is 71,900 won plus 9,448 won of long-term care, 81,348 won. With a single 600m home, 113,152 won of property premium is added: health 185,052 won, long-term care 24,316 won, total 209,368 won. The same home as one of two is assessed at 60% and comes to 239,040 won.
The long-term care premium is "the health premium multiplied by the ratio of the long-term care rate to the health insurance rate" (Long-Term Care Insurance Act art. 9(1)). For 2026 the long-term care rate is 9,448 per million (Decree art. 4), so health premium × 0.9448% ÷ 7.19%, about 13.14%, is added. A household with neither income nor property pays the 20,160 won minimum plus 2,649 won, 22,809 won.
Questions that remain
Why is the first bill after retirement so high?
Because the income data is from one or two years earlier (Decree art. 41(3)); from November the previous year's data takes over. If retirement cut your income, tell the Service and ask whether an adjustment applies. The choices and deadlines right after retirement are in the post-retirement premium guide.
Is voluntary continuation cheaper?
It is when your pre-retirement monthly pay × 7.19% (you now pay the employer's half too) is below the regional figure. It often favours people with substantial property, and the application window is two months from the first bill's due date - see the same guide.
Does a mortgage reduce the property?
A loan taken to buy or rent a home to live in is deducted under Annex 4's reference to art. 42-2(3) once you report it to the Service. It does not come off automatically. The calculator leaves it out.
What about other household members?
The premium is set per household (Act art. 69(5), second sentence). A spouse's and children's income and property go on the same bill. The calculator takes one person's figures, so add the household's together before entering.
What does the calculator not see?
Household aggregation, reported housing-loan deductions, ships and aircraft, premium reductions (farming and fishing areas, islands, the elderly, the disabled and others), and the separate-taxation calculation for housing rental income are left out. The Service truncates premiums to 10 won.
Sources
National Health Insurance Act [in force 2 Jan 2026] — art. 69(5) (regional premium = income + property, per household), art. 69(6) (ceiling and floor), art. 71(2) (monthly income = annual income ÷ 12).
Enforcement Decree [in force 19 Feb 2026] — art. 41(1), (3) (kinds of income; which year's data), art. 42(1) (what property counts), art. 44 (rate 719/10,000; 211.5 won per point), Annex 4 (100m allowance; the 60-grade table).
Enforcement Rule [in force 11 Aug 2026] — art. 44(1) (10m interest and dividend proviso), (2) (whole; 50%), (3) (regional subscribers; 280,000 floor), Annex 8 (rent value at 30%).
Notice on the ceiling and floor of monthly health insurance premiums (Ministry notice 2025-222) [in force 1 Jan 2026] — regional ceiling 4,591,740 won, floor 20,160 won.
Long-Term Care Insurance Act art. 9(1) and Decree art. 4 [in force 12 May 2026] — long-term care rate 9,448 per million.
Local Tax Act Enforcement Decree [in force 1 Jul 2026] — art. 109(1) (2026 fair-market ratios).
The point of this piece is the first sentence of Annex 4 — "the sum ... less 100m won ... divided into grades". That is why the property premium starts at 100m and climbs in steps.
The script was checked against the same model across 20,736 combinations in both languages — 3 housing types × 4 financial incomes × 3 pensions × 2 earnings × 3 business incomes × 2 other incomes × 4 home values × 2 land values × 3 deposits × 2 rents, with no mismatch. The 60-grade table is kept separately in the script and the model and compared. Percentages are applied as integers and fractions of a won dropped.
Where to check
The figures here are an estimate. The Service reads tax-office income data, local tax bases and household records directly, so confirm with the NHIS (1577-1000) simulator and your bill. The choices and deadlines right after retirement are in what health insurance costs after you retire, whether you can join a child's cover in the dependant checker, and the years before the National Pension starts in bridging the pension gap.
