reader Posted February 21, 2023 Posted February 21, 2023 From Korea Herald A South Korean high court ruled on Tuesday that the spouse in a same-sex partnership is eligible for national health insurance coverage under his partner’s subscription. The landmark ruling overturns a lower court's decision in January 2022 that rejected the same-sex couple's petition to cancel the National Health Insurance Service's decision to demand back-payments from the non-earning partner. A spouse without a source of income is exempted from making a health insurance contribution if the other person is employed and is an employer-provided policyholder. As the lower court did not recognize the couple's marriage, stating that marriage is a union only between a man and woman, both spouses had been subject to paying their contributions separately. "The lower court ruling has been overturned. Contributions imposed on (a spouse) are revoked, and (the NHIS) is responsible for payment of attorney fees of both the plaintiff and the defendant," a Seoul High Court judge said briefly. "The plaintiff and his partner are both male, but they agreed to recognize each other as loving partners who take care of each other. One financially relies on the other. They declared their partnership before their families and friends. This makes their relationship no different in essence from that of a married couple," read the ruling. The court said the ruling is the first in the country that recognizes the status of a same-sex partner as a dependent eligible for national health insurance, but said that this did not mean that it recognizes the "legal status" of a same-sex marriage. Quote
