The South Korean insurance industry will fund the review committee that will consider each case of claim whether it is appropriate for the vehicle accident victim with minor-injuries (injury grades 12-14) to receive medical treatment for eight weeks or longer.
Once the 8-week rule is implemented, minor-injury patients seeking treatment for eight weeks or longer must submit medical records and other documents which will be reviewed by Korea’s Traffic Accident Compensation Supervisory Service (TACSS).
Currently, all minor-injury patients submit a medical certificate and other documents after four weeks of treatment to receive additional care.
Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) pushed the 8-week rule on the view that treatment for minor-injury patients should conclude within eight weeks.
According to media reports the review committee consists of Western and Korean medicine doctors. These doctors are from TACSS, an agency under MOLIT.
The committee will decide if additional treatment is deemed necessary or not. If it is warranted, patients can receive treatment covered by insurance benefits. Otherwise, they must pay out of pocket.
The insurance industry has always said that treatment is extended indefinitely without verification, leading to overtreatment. If some customers receive excessively frequent treatment, insurers' performance deteriorates, which in turn leads to higher premiums for other policyholders.
The new review set-up will be similar to the structure for reviewing automobile insurance medical bills. The Automobile Insurance Review Center conducts reviews to determine whether the medical bills claimed by hospitals are appropriate. Insurers and mutual aid associations bear the expense, including labour costs, to operate the centre.
Consumer groups and the medical community have raised concerns about an organisation funded by insurers handling review work that is directly tied to the payment of insurance benefits. During the 2024 National Assembly audit, questions were also raised about the fairness of Automobile Insurance Review Centre’s medical bill reviews.