Verify authenticity of social insurance payment certificates, health insurer warns

The National Health Insurance Service has urged all public and private sector parties that use four major social insurance payment certificates to exercise extra caution, after cases of forgery and falsification were confirmed in certificates submitted to central and local government agencies and public institutions.

A court recently sentenced the head of a company to prison for forging a four major social insurance payment certificate using an image-editing program to collect service fees, convicting the individual on charges including forgery of a private document.

To prevent losses from forged or falsified certificates, the National Health Insurance Service has operated a certificate authenticity verification service through its website and mobile app on a continuous basis since 2023.

Public and private sector parties that use payment certificates can access the service through the agency's website and enter the issuance number, issuance date, and personal or business information printed in the upper left corner of the certificate to immediately confirm whether it was genuinely issued and whether its contents match the records.

The certificate also states its expiration date at the bottom, and a new certificate must be requested if the date of submission falls after that date.

"The four major social insurance payment certificate is a mandatory document that government agencies, local authorities and public institutions must review when making contract payments," a National Health Insurance Service official said. "We urge those who receive a submitted certificate not to simply accept it, but to verify its authenticity through our website."

Meanwhile, forging or falsifying a four major social insurance payment certificate and using it constitutes forgery of a private document and use of a forged private document under Articles 231 and 234 of the Criminal Act, each punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,360).