After You Resign, Health Insurance Premiums Switch to the Regional Basis -- Apply for Voluntary Continuation Within 2 Months of the First Bill's Due Date, Up to 36 Months
When you leave a company, your health insurance status changes too. A worker who split premiums with the employer as an employee subscriber becomes a regional subscriber after resigning, and premiums are recalculated from property, vehicles and income, so many people are surprised by a much larger bill. The system that can help is voluntary continuation of coverage. Based on Article 110 of the National Health Insurance Act and guidance from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), this post explains the eligibility, the application deadline, how the premium is calculated and what happens if you miss a step.
Voluntary continuation lets you keep paying on the employee-subscriber basis after leaving
Voluntary continuation is a system that lets a person whose employment has ended keep employee-subscriber status for a set period. It is meant to ease the shock of regional premiums before you find a new job. As the name says, it is optional: it does not apply automatically, and you must apply to the NHIS yourself. If you do not, you become a regional subscriber as soon as you leave, so it is safer to learn about it before a planned resignation.
Eligibility is at least one year in total as an employee subscriber in the 18 months before leaving
According to NHIS guidance, the requirement is a combined total of at least one year (365 days) as an employee subscriber during the 18 months immediately before leaving. You do not need to complete a year at one company. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that an amendment effective July 1, 2018 allows periods at several employers within the 18 months to be added together, which lowered the bar for contract workers and frequent job changers. However, periods worked as an individual business representative are excluded, so if you wound down a business, check your enrollment history with the NHIS first.
The deadline is two months after the due date of your first regional premium
The deadline is the easiest thing to miss. After you become a regional subscriber, a regional premium bill arrives, and you must apply before two months have passed from the payment due date of the first regional premium you were billed. If you only start looking after being shocked by the bill, the deadline may already have passed, so calculate the date as soon as the first bill arrives. After the deadline you cannot join, so confirm your exact cutoff with the NHIS call center (1577-1000).
The premium is calculated from your average pay over the 12 months before leaving
The NHIS formula is the average monthly remuneration over the most recent 12 months for which remuneration-based premiums were assessed, including the month of leaving, multiplied by that year's employee-subscriber premium rate, plus the income-based premium on income other than pay. Property and vehicles are not part of this formula. The NHIS describes the result as lower than the regional premium. Depending on how the share the employer used to pay is handled after you leave and whether a reduction applies, your own burden can differ, so get a simulated calculation from the NHIS to see the real amount. Also remember which months are averaged: if there was a leave of absence or a pay cut within the 12 months before leaving, the average can come out lower.
Coverage lasts up to 36 months, after which you become a regional subscriber
The period you can stay in voluntary continuation is 36 months if you started on or after January 1, 2018, and it was 24 months for those who started earlier. When the period ends you become a regional subscriber. If you get a new job in the meantime, you return to being an employee subscriber, so voluntary continuation ends naturally and premiums follow the new employer. If you expect to be re-employed quickly, there is no need to use the whole period. If instead it may take longer, estimate in advance what your premium will be once you switch to regional coverage after three years, because it will then be recalculated from property and income and may differ from today.
If you do not pay the first premium within two months, you lose eligibility
It is not a system where applying is the end of it. According to NHIS guidance, if you do not pay the first voluntary continuation premium within two months of its due date, eligibility is lost and you are changed to a regional subscriber. Because you may be short of cash right after losing a job, set up automatic payment so you do not miss the first one. Once eligibility is lost you will receive regional bills separately, so keep track of the payment schedule, and if you worry about an overdue amount, ask the NHIS call center about your current status.
It is not always better, so compare with the regional premium. People with a lot of property such as a home or a car have it counted in the regional premium, so voluntary continuation is more likely to be lower; on the other hand, if your pay before leaving was high but you have almost no property or income, the regional premium may be cheaper. And if you can be listed as a dependent of a spouse or child who is an employee subscriber, you may not need to pay premiums separately. Dependent requirements include income and property tests, so check with the NHIS first. The most accurate way is to ask the NHIS about all three cases on the same day and compare. When you call, prepare your leaving date, the name and period of your last employer, your pay level for the 12 months before leaving and your property and income, and you will get your answer in one go.
How to apply and what else to handle
You can apply at an NHIS branch, by fax, by mail, through the call center (1577-1000), on the NHIS website or in the mobile app The Health Insurance. The form is the application for voluntary continuation enrollment and withdrawal attached to the enforcement rule of the National Health Insurance Act. After leaving you will probably also apply for unemployment benefits; see the conditions and duration of unemployment benefits, and the 10-day deadline for the separation certificate for what to do if it is late. How pension premiums are supported while you receive benefits is in the 75% unemployment credit support post, and wage issues for time worked without a contract are in how to claim when there is no employment contract.
The order of steps before and after leaving
First, check with the NHIS whether your enrollment as an employee subscriber in the 18 months before leaving adds up to one year. Second, when the first regional premium bill arrives after you leave, write down the due date plus two months. Third, compare the premiums for voluntary continuation, regional coverage and dependent status, and apply. Fourth, be sure to pay the first premium within two months of its due date. This post is general information, and eligibility and premiums differ with each person's enrollment history and income. Please confirm exact deadlines and amounts with the National Health Insurance Service.
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