Assemblyman Yoon Chang-hyun Proposes Expert Council to Simplify Claims for Real Loss Insurance

Yoon Chang-hyun, Member of the People Power Party./Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] An expert consultative body for simplifying claims of indemnity health insurance (실손보험) has been proposed in the National Assembly.

On the 14th, Yoon Chang-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, proposed the formation of an eight-member expert consultative group for simplifying indemnity insurance claims at the 'Discussion on Introducing an Indemnity Assistant for Simplifying Indemnity Insurance Claims' hosted by the People Power Party Policy Committee at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul.

The simplification of indemnity insurance claims is a system where if a consumer requests a medical institution to send the documents necessary for insurance claims, the medical institution is obligated to electronically transmit those documents to the insurance company.

Until now, patients had to obtain documents from hospitals and deliver them directly to insurance companies. This process was promoted to shorten the procedure and improve consumer convenience but was not introduced due to opposition from the medical community.

The consultative body proposed by Representative Yoon includes the Financial Services Commission, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Medical Association, Hospital Association, consumer groups recommended by the Medical Association, consumer groups recommended by the Financial Services Commission, Life Insurance Association, and General Insurance Association.

Representative Yoon said, "Although Korea is a leading country in the digital era, the insurance claim process is still stuck in the old way of dealing with piles of documents," adding, "It is the duty and responsibility of those involved to make the insurance payment procedures comfortable for the public."

He emphasized, "The introduction of an indemnity assistant, which guarantees the right to easily and conveniently receive the insurance money paid, is the highest innovation task in financial administration that cannot be delayed any longer, to the extent that starting now would not be too late," and added, "It is necessary to shift to a method where representatives of suppliers and consumers of the indemnity assistant directly discuss and reach an agreement, and the legislature accepts the agreement and turns it into a bill."

Professor Seongrim Lee of the Department of Consumer Studies at Sungkyunkwan University, who gave the keynote presentation, revealed that 56.4% of 1,000 consumers surveyed perceived the claim method as inconvenient.

Professor Lee explained that 47% of the survey respondents had experience not claiming indemnity insurance despite receiving medical treatment, and among them, about 70% did not claim due to the inconvenience of the claim method.

He strongly advocated for the introduction of the indemnity insurance claim simplification system, stating that it would reduce transaction costs for consumers, insurance companies, and medical institutions, and also have significant social effects such as reducing carbon emissions by decreasing paper consumption.

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