All English schools in Korea are required to provide their teachers with medical coverage for the duration of their contract. Normally the school will pay for half of your coverage and half the cost of your coverage will be deducted from your salary on a monthly basis. The cost to teachers for their medical coverage is typically 1.7% of your monthly salary.
IMPORTANT: your medical insurance will not start until you have your "Alien Residence Card". This is initiated immediately after you arrive but can take 2 weeks to 3 months to finalize. Footprints strongly recommends that you get at least 3 months travel medical insurance before you go. Perhaps this can be a going away present for you.
When you first get to Korea with your E-2 visa, your school director or owner will bring you to the regional immigration office in order to register for your Foreign Registration Certificate, also known as your "Alien Residence Card". This is your legal identification within the country of Korea. In order to register for your Foreign Registration Certificate, you must apply in person at the regional immigration office. You will be fingerprinted and the cost to register is 10,000 Korean Won. Your medical coverage won’t start until you receive your Foreign Registration Certificate, which usually takes a couple of weeks to process. You may want to purchase a temporary travel insurance policy to cover your initial period of sojourn in Korea, until your government provided insurance takes effect.
The insurance provided by the school will cover basic medical and emergency dental necessities, but will not cover cosmetic surgery or dental work, or optical care. Pre-existing conditions (for example depression or MS) are also not covered under this plan. If you feel more comfortable going to a doctor that speaks English there are several Foreign Clinics and hospitals with English speaking staff in Seoul that accept the national insurance plan (the plan in which you will be enrolled), however you may want to call first to make sure.
There are opportunities for the schools to get private medical insurance but this can be quite expensive.
Neither kind of insurance is effective until after your residency in Korea has been processed, usually 2-4 weeks after arrival. We advise that all teachers buy travel insurance with medical coverage for 30-45 days following arrival in Korea. Common travel insurance that includes medical coverage can be a liability. If the insurance policy does not permit you to "work" you could lose the coverage because because you will be working. You need ex-pat medical insurance.
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