The National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommends the abolition of disproportionate medical screenings for health insurance subscribers with disabilities.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRCK) recommended recently that health insurance providers examine their methods for mandating medical screenings to selected prospective subscribers. This recommendation is specifically in response to a complaint filed against “A” Life Insurance Company for disproportionately screening subscribers with disabilities over subscribers without disabilities, who were applying for cancer insurance policies.
The complainant, a 43-year-old woman with a visual impairment, filed a complaint with the Commission in January 2007, stating that she was discriminately profiled and selected for a medical screening after she had taken out a cancer insurance policy from “A” Life Insurance Company. The complainant was told 20 days after taking out the policy that she had been randomly selected for the screening. The representative for “A” Life Insurance Company explained to the complainant that 1 out of every 100 subscribers were selected for the screening. The representative of the company explained that subscribers may be subject to police restrictions pending the results of the medical exam, other current insurance policies, and insurance payment history. However, the representative failed to inform the complainant about the standard and proper method for health examinations.
The respondent, “A” Life Insurance Company, held that the screening was asked on random, and was not discriminatory. According to the respondent, the company policy validates the requests for screenings when deemed necessary, even for policies that do not require a screening for processing. Furthermore, the respondent believed that they the random selection policy was in compliance with the Standard Criterion for Guaranteeing Insurance Subscription for the Disabled (Amendment), which was established to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities applying for insurance policies.
After investigation, the Commission confirmed that there was a disparity in the percentage of persons with disabilities selected for medical screenings over persons without disabilities. From October 2005 to March 2006, a total of 1.5% (3,911 of 256,508) of persons without disabilities were selected for the medical screening, while 4.2% (133 out of 3,177)—three times as many—of persons with disabilities were mandated to undergo a medical screening.
The Commission concluded that these numbers indicate discrimination against person with disabilities when selecting subscribers for screening. The Commission also concluded that selecting a higher proportion of subscribers with disabilities for screenings without objective standards to be discriminatory, and recommended that the company revise its selection criterion, process and content of medical screenings to avoid discrimination against persons with disabilities.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea was established in 2001 to promote human rights education and defend those who have experienced discrimination, or have had a right violated, in Korea. The Commission offers counseling, full investigation and protection for citizens, along with educational initiatives for organizations.
