Increase in Korean Medicine Treatments for Minor Traffic Accident Injuries... "Need to Establish Treatment Guidelines"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] As cases of receiving Korean traditional medicine treatment even for minor traffic accidents increase, compensation payments for bodily injury under automobile insurance are rising. There are calls to establish treatment guidelines for minor injury patients and to improve the current full payment guarantee system for treatment costs, which has been pointed out as a problem in the bodily injury compensation system.

On the 13th, Jeon Yong-sik, a research fellow at the Korea Insurance Research Institute, stated in the report titled "Changes in Types of Traffic Accident Injuries and Directions for Improving the Bodily Injury Compensation System," "Automobile insurance payouts increased by an average of 4.9% annually from 2015 to 2018, while compensation payments for bodily injury caused to others in traffic accidents increased by an average of 12.4% annually."

According to the report, although the number of seriously injured and deceased in traffic accidents has decreased due to improvements in vehicle safety, the trend of increasing minor accidents is expanding.

The number of minor injury patients (those requiring treatment for 5 days or more but less than 3 weeks) and injury reporters (those requiring treatment for less than 5 days) increased by an average of 3.3% and 6.0% annually, respectively.

In particular, per capita treatment costs are rising mainly due to Korean traditional medicine treatment costs, and future treatment costs, which are part of settlement amounts, are increasing proportionally to treatment costs. Per capita Korean traditional medicine treatment costs surged from 613,000 KRW in 2015 to 754,000 KRW last year. In contrast, Western medicine treatment costs remained relatively unchanged, from 662,000 KRW to 663,000 KRW.

Some Korean traditional medicine hospitals operate various treatments such as 'Chuna therapy,' 'herbal medicine,' 'acupuncture,' and 'blood stasis pharmacopuncture' as insurance treatment specialized packages, promoting "zero out-of-pocket expenses?"

The report pointed out that although these are minor injury patients, treatment costs and settlement amounts (future treatment costs) are continuously increasing, which ultimately expands the upward trend of bodily injury compensation payments.

Research fellow Jeon predicted, "There is a tendency for minor injury patients to receive excessive treatment for the purpose of settlement money (or consolation money). If the increase in bodily injury compensation payments continues, there will be about a 2% insurance premium adjustment pressure."

Canada's 'Consolation Money Repayment System' Prevents Excessive Treatment

The report cited Canada’s case, which is responding to changes in traffic accident injury types by establishing treatment guidelines and compensation standards for minor injury patients.

In Canada, damages caused by minor injuries are compensated based on the degree of fault, and the upper limit for consolation money is capped at 5,500 Canadian dollars (approximately 4.95 million KRW), excluding incentives for excessive treatment.

Research fellow Jeon explained, "The full payment guarantee system for treatment costs does not limit treatment duration and costs unless the fault ratio is 100%, which leads to long-term treatment. In Canada, the treatment period for minor injury patients is set at 12 weeks after the initial visit, and if additional treatment is necessary, approval from the insurance company is required based on a doctor's diagnosis."

He emphasized, "If treatment guidelines for minor injury patients are established, victims can receive sufficient treatment based on medical judgment, and unnecessary payments and volatility in insurance payouts such as treatment costs and future treatment costs (settlement amounts) will decrease, reducing dissatisfaction among traffic accident parties."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.