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| ▲ A press conference is held in front of a court in Seoul after a man won a suit seeking spousal coverage from the insurance program of his male partner's employer on Feb. 21, 2023. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
same sex couple-insurance benefit
Appellate court rules in favor of gay couple seeking spousal health insurance coverage
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Yonhap) -- An appellate court on Tuesday ruled in favor of a same-sex couple demanding the same spousal coverage from the state health insurance program as heterosexual couples.
The Seoul High Court delivered the landmark ruling, overturning a lower court's decision that marriage in South Korea is considered a union between a man and a woman, and there are no legal grounds to expand the concept to same-sex couples.
The appeals court did not give a specific reason for its decision.
The plaintiff, So Seong-wook, filed the administrative lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) in February 2021, after the agency ordered him to pay insurance premiums as he is not qualified as a dependent of his male spouse.
The NHIS had first granted him coverage under his partner's employer-based health insurance program as a dependent in February 2020, but it later reversed the decision citing their same-sex marriage, according to So.
So claimed he and his partner were discriminated against, as the NHIS grants spousal coverage to common-law partners.
South Korea by law does not legally recognize same-sex marriages.
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