Nat'l health insurance runs deficit in Q1

The national health insurance system in South Korea experienced a deficit of nearly 4 trillion won ($2.8 billion) in the first quarter of 2026, according to data released by the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS). This deficit marked a potential return to an annual net loss for the first time in six years, as the NHIS spent 26.3 trillion won compared to its earnings of 22.4 trillion won during the January-March period.

The cumulative reserve has decreased from 30.2 trillion won at the end of 2025 to 26.3 trillion won, with the NHIS having recorded deficits from 2018 to 2020 before achieving a surplus of 2.8 trillion won in 2021, which grew to 4.1 trillion won in 2023.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.