Getting Full Korean Medicine Treatment After a Car Accident? Now Subject to Strict Review

HIRA Selects Eight Items for Focused Selective Review

This year, eight items have been selected for focused selective review under automobile insurance, including injectable allogeneic dermis and simultaneous multiple Korean medicine treatments.

According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on January 5, four items have been chosen as medical categories for the 2026 automobile insurance focused selective review: ▲Allogeneic dermis (for injection/powder) ▲Bone graft material containing recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein-2 (RHBMP-2) ▲Nerve block procedure ▲Spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Among these, allogeneic dermis, a type of human tissue widely used for reconstruction, has been newly included this year due to its high treatment costs and the continued increase in insurance claims.

In the Korean medicine category, four items were selected: ▲Simultaneous multiple Korean medicine treatments ▲Chuna therapy ▲Pharmacopuncture ▲Herbal medicine. Simultaneous multiple Korean medicine treatments refer to performing acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, pharmacopuncture, and other procedures on the same day for outpatient care, commonly known as "set billing." Getty Images

In the Korean medicine category, four items were selected: ▲Simultaneous multiple Korean medicine treatments ▲Chuna therapy ▲Pharmacopuncture ▲Herbal medicine. Simultaneous multiple Korean medicine treatments refer to performing acupuncture, moxibustion, cupping, pharmacopuncture, and other procedures on the same day for outpatient care, commonly known as "set billing." As the proportion of these treatments has recently increased, concerns about potential overtreatment have been raised during the National Assembly audit, highlighting the ongoing need for management.

The focused selective review system for automobile insurance is a review process that encourages medical institutions to voluntarily provide appropriate care for items identified as needing improvement, based on a comprehensive consideration of factors such as rising medical costs and social issues. Each year, the government analyzes automobile insurance claim trends and, through the Automobile Insurance Fee Review Committee-which includes representatives from medical, consumer, and insurance organizations-selects and announces items deemed to require improvement, such as those associated with overtreatment.

This year, two items previously included in the focused review-secondary processed bone derived from human tissue (medical category) and long-term hospitalization of patients with minor injuries (Korean medicine category)-have been excluded.

Kim Aeran, Director of the Automobile Insurance Review Center at the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, stated, "We plan to provide advance notice of the focused selective review items to medical organizations and guide medical institutions to continue providing appropriate care through ongoing monitoring," adding, "We will continue to communicate with the medical and insurance sectors to ensure that the review process incorporates feedback from the field."