The so-called '8-week rule' for assessing the long-term treatment needs of minor injury patients from traffic accidents has reached the final legislative stage after a year of challenges. The breakthrough in advancing this regulation came as a public agency, rather than insurance companies, will review the necessity of treatment and establish a process for patients to appeal, addressing concerns over potential infringement on treatment rights.
According to the government's legislative update on July 30, the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Automobile Compensation Guarantee Act was presented as an agenda item at the 29th vice ministerial meeting. This marks exactly one year since the legislative notice was completed on July 30 of last year. The amendment passed the Legislative Affairs Office review on March 31 and will proceed to cabinet approval and promulgation following the vice ministerial meeting.
The 8-week rule requires patients with minor injuries, classified as injury grades 12 to 14, to confirm the necessity and appropriate duration of treatment if they seek care beyond eight weeks from the date of the accident. It does not impose a strict eight-week limit on treatment; if additional care is deemed necessary, patients can continue treatment beyond this period.
Initially, the government aimed to implement this rule to reduce over-treatment and insurance payouts. However, opposition arose from the traditional medicine sector and civic groups, arguing that applying a uniform standard could infringe on patients' treatment rights, given the varying recovery speeds among individuals. Concerns were also raised that insurance companies could effectively decide on the extension of treatment, leading to delays in implementation.
In response, the government established a compromise by designating the Auto Insurance Compensation Agency as the reviewing body and introducing an appeals process. Insurance companies must gather data on the severity of injuries and treatment progress from patients seeking care beyond eight weeks and submit it to the agency for review. If patients disagree with the outcome, they can request a review through the Deduction Dispute Mediation Committee, either directly or via their insurance company.
The insurance industry anticipates that the implementation of this rule will help reduce deficits in auto insurance. In the first half of this year, the overall operating loss for property and casualty insurers in auto insurance reached approximately 189 billion won, marking the first deficit in this period since 2020. The increase in repair costs and parts prices, along with the rising burden of long-term treatment for minor injury patients, has contributed to the worsening loss ratio.
An industry representative stated, "While the proportion of minor injury patients receiving treatment beyond eight weeks is not large, the treatment costs for these patients are significant. Establishing an objective review process for the necessity of long-term treatment will help reduce some over-treatment and insurance payouts, and we expect it will alleviate some of the pressure for insurance premium increases."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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