(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of cataract surgeries in South Korea has significantly dropped due to a decrease in excessive treatments following a ruling by the top court last year, data showed Tuesday.
As per indemnity insurance claim data collected by a non-life insurance company, the number of multifocal lens surgeries for cataracts in December 2022 was 721 cases, showing a substantial decline of 92.3 percent compared to the figure recorded in March of the same year.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in June 2022, which stated that insurance benefits for cataract surgeries should only be provided within the outpatient coverage limit if inpatient treatment is unnecessary, the number of such surgeries experienced a sharp decline.
In line with this ruling, insurance companies began offering cataract insurance benefits based on outpatient standards, leading to a significant decrease in the maximum insurance coverage from 20-30 million won (US$15,390-23,090) to a mere 200,000-300,000 won per case.
Industry experts noted that this statistical data validates the notion that excessive cataract treatment has been the main cause of indemnity insurance losses.
The percentage of surgeries among individuals in their 40s and 50s dropped from 55 percent in March of the previous year to 38 percent in December.
In contrast, the percentage of surgeries among those aged over 60 increased from 44.7 percent to 62.4 percent during the same period.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
