Half of Last Year's Car Insurance Medical Expenses Taken by Korean Medicine Hospitals

"High Preference for Korean Medicine Hospitals... Over-treatment Must Be Controlled"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] It has been revealed that half of the total automobile insurance medical expenses last year were concentrated in Korean medicine hospitals and clinics.

On the 18th, according to the 'Automobile Insurance Medical Expense Composition' data received by Assemblywoman Shin Hyun-young of the Democratic Party from the General Insurance Association, Korean medicine medical expenses last year were tentatively estimated at 1.1084 trillion won, an increase of 15.8% compared to 2019.

Last year, as traffic volume decreased due to the spread of COVID-19, the number of automobile insurance claims dropped by more than 600,000 cases compared to 2019 (7,768,244 cases), but Korean medicine medical expenses rather increased significantly.

Last year, medical expenses for traffic accident treatment at hospitals and clinics amounted to 1.2305 trillion won, a decrease of 2.1%. Compared to 2015 (1.1981 trillion won), hospital and clinic medical expenses only increased by 2.7%.

However, automobile insurance Korean medicine medical expenses increased from 357.6 billion won in 2015 with a growth rate in the 20% range, tripling in five years, expanding to about half (47.4%) of the total automobile insurance medical expenses of 2.3389 trillion won last year.

If the trend continues over the past five years, it is expected that this year’s automobile insurance Korean medicine medical expenses will surpass hospital and clinic medical expenses.

The insurance industry points out that not only are the standards for automobile insurance medical expenses lax, but also the over-treatment and overuse tendencies of Korean medicine hospitals and clinics and patients are the causes of the rapid increase in Korean medicine medical expenses.

Assemblywoman Shin Hyun-young diagnosed that the medical expenses for minor injuries under automobile insurance, especially Korean medicine medical expenses, are falling into an uncontrollable state, and emphasized that the authorities, consumers, and providers all need to be alert.

Assemblywoman Shin said, "An in-depth survey should be conducted, and based on the results, a control mechanism for Korean medicine medical expenses should be established."

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