National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2019 2. Key Policy Recommendations A. ‌Recommendation to Improve the Joint and Several Liability of Health Insurance Payment Imposed on Minors On February 14, the Commission recommended the Minister of Health and Welfare to revisit the health insurance system and exclude minors covered by community insurance from the joint and several liability of payment of insurance. of insurance, and this obligation also applies to minors. The recommendation was triggered by the case in which the National Health Insurance Service sent a reminder to an eight-year old child who lives in a child welfare facility to pay for the parents’ health insurance arrears. Under the Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, minors are eligible for state protection through the social security program. And because minors in general don’t have economic ability, it should be assumed that minors are unable to pay for health insurance. As a matter of fact, in most cases, the amount of health insurance arrears to be borne by minors are small, and there is no effectiveness in collecting insurance from minors as they have no economic ability, and the National Health Insurance Service actually makes an exemption for such payments by writing them off. The health insurance liability does more than add economic burden on minors. Because insurance arrears negatively impacts credit and financial ability evaluation, they can negatively affect a minor’s life in terms of scholarship, student loans, and employment. The Commission concluded that minors covered by community health insurance are not obligated to make insurance payment and institutional improvements should be made to exempt them from the joint and several liability of health insurance payment. The Ministry of Health and Welfare replied that it cannot not accept the recommendation, stating that exempting minors who have joined the community health insurance scheme from the joint and several liability would lead to a rise in moral hazard. 31 Key Activities multiple petitions being filed with the Commission regarding the liability minors face, including Part 2 All local subscribers who are part of a household have joint and several liability of payment