Minor Collision and MRI Scan... Insurance Industry Examines Injuries of Minor Accident Patients

KIDI Research on Minor Accident Passenger Injury Occurrence
Estimation of Excess Medical Costs for Mild Injury Patients... Development of Management Indicators

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] The insurance industry is launching a study to investigate how much injury occupants sustain in minor car accidents such as fender benders. This is to establish evidence to assess the appropriateness of excessive medical treatment for minor accident patients, who are considered a major cause of rising automobile insurance loss ratios.

According to the insurance industry on the 20th, the Korea Insurance Development Institute recently began a research project on occupant injury occurrence in minor accidents. They will recreate vehicle-to-vehicle collisions such as contact and reversing accidents (backing collisions) and measure the extent of damage in accidents at speeds below 8 km/h, which are known to pose almost no injury risk to occupants.

Specifically, they plan to recruit seven male and seven female test subjects in their 40s and 50s and conduct accident reenactment tests. Medical diagnoses will be made through MRI scans, electromyography, and nerve conduction tests before and after the tests. Through this study, the institute aims to estimate the scale of excessive medical treatment costs for minor injury patients and develop management indicators for over-treatment.

The insurance industry sees a need for public discussion to minimize moral hazard caused by minor accidents. The amount of automobile insurance payouts for minor accidents has surged in recent years.

The number of minor injury patients classified as injury grades 11 to 14 increased by only 11%, from 1.52 million in 2015 to 1.7 million in 2019, but the insurance payouts to these patients rose by nearly 60%, from 17.5 trillion won to 27.8 trillion won.

According to average treatment costs for traffic accident patients compiled by the four major non-life insurers, treatment costs for patients in injury grades 1 to 11 slightly decreased from 5.28 million won in 2018 to 5.11 million won in 2019, but treatment costs for patients in grades 12 to 14 increased by more than 12%, from 570,000 won to 640,000 won during the same period.

The insurance industry believes that the continuous increase in treatment costs for minor injury patients is due to excessive treatment in traditional Korean medicine.

According to statistics from the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the number of Western medicine patients under automobile insurance increased by only 90,000, from 1.8 million in 2015 to 1.89 million in 2019, whereas the number of traditional Korean medicine patients more than doubled, from 580,000 to 1.27 million.

Therefore, there have been calls for objective evidence regarding injuries from minor accidents. Overseas, safety thresholds are already defined for minor accidents where the risk of injury occurrence is almost nonexistent.

Canada and the United Kingdom have established and operate minor injury regulations, and Italy and Spain also pay insurance claims under stricter conditions for proving minor injuries. Japan has applied an exemption rule for collisions at speeds below 15 km/h since 1990.

An insurance industry official said, "It is not easy to objectively prove the degree of injury and recovery status from minor accidents," adding, "If reasonable treatment guidelines for minor accidents can be presented, excessive medical treatment can be significantly reduced."

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