ACRC: "Injuries During Travel... Practice of Automatically Assigning All Responsibility to Travel Agencies Must Be Improved"

A recommendation has been made to improve the National Health Insurance Service's practice of shifting responsibility to travel agencies for travelers’ injuries without first determining the proportion of liability.

Hansam Seok, Vice Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is speaking at the Commission's main conference room in the Government Sejong Complex. Photo by Yonhap News

On December 2, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission stated that the National Health Insurance Service should establish procedures to determine the proportion of liability when exercising its right of indemnity in cases where health insurance benefits are paid due to a traveler's injury.

The National Health Insurance Service claimed the full amount of its share of medical expenses-excluding the out-of-pocket portion-from the travel agency for a traveler who was injured by falling on stairs during an overseas trip. The reason given was that the accident occurred during a package tour, making it the travel agency’s responsibility.

However, the investigation found that the travel agency had provided prior information about the destination to the traveler before the contract, and there was no objective evidence that the accident was due to the travel agency’s responsibility. If the travel agency was at fault, the proportion of liability should have been determined before making an indemnity claim, but the National Health Insurance Service did not follow such procedures.

The Commission recommended that the National Health Insurance Service cancel its notification of the indemnity claim and decide whether to exercise its right of indemnity only after determining the proportion of liability. It also advised that the National Health Insurance Service should establish procedures for determining the proportion of liability to prevent similar cases in the future.

Hansam Seok, Vice Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, stated, "If an accident occurs during travel, it is necessary to improve the system so that the traveler, the travel agency, and the National Health Insurance Service can reasonably share responsibility depending on the cause of the accident."