Resignation/Retirement

Procedures

An individual loses their certification as an insured person with the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association on the day of resignation or retirement. Please return your health insurance card immediately if you lose your certification as an insured person due to resignation or retirement.
Please always inform your healthcare provider that you are no longer an insured person of the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association and present a new health insurance card when undergoing an examination after losing your certification. The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association will bill any medical care costs to an individual who uses an Western Digital Technologies health insurance card after losing their eligibility as an insured person.

Health Insurance System after Resignation or Retirement

An individual who has left the company due to resignation or retirement at the mandatory age can choose to be re-employed, become a dependent of their child or another family member, or become an insured person with optional and continued insurance for two years. If none of the above are suitable for the individual, he/she may enroll in National Health Insurance.

Procedures

Please always submit the notification within five days after losing eligibility as an insured person.

Required
documents

Health Insurance Card (insured person and all dependents)
Elderly Beneficiary Health Insurance Cards (if issued)
Eligibility Certificate for Ceiling-Amount Application (if issued)

Optional and Continued Health Insurance System

The Optional and Continued Health Insurance system enables individuals who have been an insured person for two or more months before their resignation or retirement to stay enrolled as an insured person of the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association for up to 2 years after losing eligibility.
Insured persons with optional and continued insurance receive insurance benefits similar to those that were available while employed. However, these individuals are not eligible to receive injury and illness or maternity allowance benefits.
(Allowances are paid if the requirements for optional and continued benefits have been met by the person at the time of resignation or retirement.)

Notes on Enrollment

Insured persons qualify to enroll in optional and continued insurance upon loss of their eligibility as a regular insured person. Thereafter, the enrollee is responsible for submitting notifications, paying insurance premiums, and any other such obligations. (The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association does not provide any reminders about these obligations.)
National Health Insurance premiums (taxes) may cost less than optional and continued insurance if an individual has lost their job due to company circumstances.*

*The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association does not have details about these health insurance programs and premiums. Please contact the National Health Insurance section of your local municipality.

*Please consider enrolling only after reviewing all of the information above.

All Insurance Premiums are the Responsibility of the Individual

The insurance premiums for individuals covered by optional and continued insurance are calculated by multiplying standard monthly remuneration by the insurance premium rate, in the same manner as the premiums when the individual was a regular insured person.

Standard monthly remuneration of insured persons with optional and continued insurance

The lower of the items below.

The standard monthly remuneration of the individual at the time of resignation or retirement
The average standard monthly remuneration of the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association as of September 30 of the previous fiscal year

In addition, insured persons with optional and continued insurance are responsible for paying the entire premium because employers no longer pay a portion of insurance premiums. Moreover, individuals age 40 or older but under age 65 are also responsible for the entire amount of long-term care insurance premiums.

*Please contact the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association for information about the standard monthly remuneration and actual insurance premiums.

Procedures

Fill in the required information in the Application for Eligibility of Optional and Continued Insurance and submit it directly to the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association within 20 days after losing eligibility (starting on the day after resignation or retirement).
The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association issues a health insurance card to individuals as insured persons with optional and continued insurance after they have completed the filing procedures. (The health insurance card code and number also changed.)

Required
documents

Notification for Acquisition of Qualification as an Insured Person with Optional and Continued Insurance
PDF Entry Sample

Payment Method and Deadlines

As a general rule, insured persons with optional and continued insurance transfer insurance premium payments to an account designated by the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association. (Statements of payment include account details for the wire transfer)

*Please note that Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association cannot accept the direct delivery of cash payments or issue insurance cards on the spot.

Before a health insurance card is issued, please notify any healthcare provider rendering medical services that you are in the process of applying for optional and continued insurance. Once you receive your health insurance card, please present it to the healthcare provider.

First insurance premium payment	Please pay your insurance premium by the date specified by the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association (shown on the statement of payment). If the first insurance premium is not paid by the payment deadline without a valid reason, the individual loses their qualification as an insured person with optional and continued insurance.
Second and subsequent insurance premium payments	Please pay the monthly health insurance premiums by the 10th of each month. The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association also has a prepayment system which offers a discount on health insurance premiums paid in six-month or twelve-month installments. The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association will reimburse any remaining insurance premiums after payment If you withdraw on the way.

First insurance premium payment

Please pay your insurance premium by the date specified by the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association (shown on the statement of payment).
If the first insurance premium is not paid by the payment deadline without a valid reason, the individual loses their qualification as an insured person with optional and continued insurance.

Second and subsequent insurance premium payments

Please pay the monthly health insurance premiums by the 10th of each month.
The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association also has a prepayment system which offers a discount on health insurance premiums paid in six-month or twelve-month installments. The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association will reimburse any remaining insurance premiums after payment If you withdraw on the way.

[About the Prepayment System]

The prepayment system applies a discount to lump-sum insurance premiums wired in advance. Please contact the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association if you would like to use the prepayment system.

Payment Method

Six-month payment	Payments in a six-month installment from April to September and October to March of the following year
Twelve-month payment	Payments in a twelve-month installment from April to March of the following year
Payment Deadline	Prepayments are due by the end of the month before start of the first month

*Prepayment discounts do not apply if a payment arrives in the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association account after the payment deadline.

*The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association reimburses insurance premiums to an insured person with optional and continued insurance who enroll in a different health insurance plan through an employer for payments made from the month of enrollment in the new health insurance plan. (Notification required)

*In case of withdrawal at the request of the insured person, The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association will refund the premium from the month following the insured person's offer to the period paid.（Notification required）

[Health Insurance Premiums Not Paid by the Deadline]

An individual who does not pay the health insurance premiums by the deadline with a valid reason such as a natural disaster or transportation strike loses their eligibility as an insured person with optional and continued insurance.

Loss of Qualifications

Individuals lose their eligibility as insured persons with optional and continued insurance if any of the items below apply.

When requesting withdrawal (Notification for Loss of Qualification as an Insured Person with Optional and Continued Insurance)
*The 1st of the month following the acceptance by The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association will be the date of disqualification.
When the enrollment period expires (maximum of two years)
When the health insurance premium is not paid by the deadline
When the insured person is re-employed and becomes insured under a different health insurance plan
When the insured person with optional and continued insurance dies
When the insured person reaches age 75 (shift to the medical insurance system for the elderly age 75 or older)

An individual who has lost eligibility as an insured person with optional and continued insurance must complete the procedures to return the health insurance card. If the health insurance card is used by accident after an individual loses eligibility as an insured person with optional and continued insurance, the individual must reimburse the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association for any medical costs related to medical services.

Procedures

Please submit the necessary materials within five days after losing eligibility as an insured person with optional and continued insurance.

Required
documents

Health insurance card
(Return any Elderly Beneficiary Health Insurance Card, Specified Disease Medical Treatment Certificate, or Eligibility Certificate for Ceiling-Amount Application issued by the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association)

Notification for Loss of Qualification as an Insured Person with Optional and Continued Insurance
PDF Entry Sample

Benefits Received After Resignation or Retirement

An individual who has lost eligibility as an insured person with optional and continued insurance can still receive illness and injury, maternity, lump-sum birth and childcare, and funeral expense allowance benefits from the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association if certain requirements are met.

Individuals Receiving Benefits

Individuals who were insured persons for one year or more continuously prior to resignation or retirement

Individuals Eligible to Receive Statutory Benefits

The Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association pays the illness and injury, maternity, lump-sum birth and childcare, and funeral expense (fee) allowance benefits in the amounts that are legally mandated. No additional benefits are paid.

Various Benefits Available

Illness and Injury Allowance

Payment requirements	Individuals receiving an illness and injury allowance at the time of resignation or retirement who continue to be unable to work due to treatment for that illness or injury
Payment period	Until the end of the payment period for the illness and injury allowance *Individuals receiving an old-age welfare annuity are not eligible for the illness and injury allowance unless the old-age welfare annuity is less than the illness and injury allowance. In this case, the Western Digital Technologies Health Insurance Association pays the difference.

Maternity Allowance

Payment requirements	Individuals receiving a maternity allowance at the time of resignation or retirement
Payment requirements	Until the end of the payment period for the maternity allowance

Childbirth/Childcare Lump-sum Allowance

Payment requirements	Individuals giving birth within six months after losing eligibility

Funeral Expenses (Fees)

Payment requirements	Insured persons who die within three months after losing eligibility Insured persons who die while receiving an illness and injury allowance or a maternity allowance after losing eligibility, or within three months after the payment period ends *Individuals who die within three months after losing eligibility receive payment even if they have not been insured for one year or more.

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