Denying Insurance Coverage for the Mentally Disabled is Discriminatory under the Disability Discrimination Act
The NHRCK (Ahn, Kyong-whan, Chairperson) determined that denying accident insurance coverage for those who have mental disability or have a history of being treated for mental illness is in violation of the Disability Discrimination Act. NHRCK recommended the President of Korea Post to initiatie the application process to review the petitioner’s insurance subscription. In order to prevent similar discrimination from occurring in the future, the Commission also recommended that Korea Post should prepare concrete company standards and review process in relation to the application of Article 732 of the Commercial Act, ‘Mental and Physical Injury and Weakness.’
The petitioner filed a complaint to the NHRCK on April 11, 2008 claiming that after he had received consultation for an accident insurance plan at the Post Office, his insurance application was denied because of his mental disability.
Following NHRCK’s investigation, it was confirmed that Korea Post denied the petitioner’s insurance application solely on the basis that the petitioner had a mental disability and a history of receiving treatment without properly undergoing the review process, investigating the relationship between the petitioner’s disability and incidence or rate of accident.
Under Article 15 and 17 of the Disability Discrimination Act, the provider of products and services are prohibited from denying various financial products and services by restricting, excluding, separating, and/or denying persons with disability without a justifiable cause. It was determined that denying insurance subscription only on the basis of having a disability without proper investigation into and justifiable basis of the co-relationship between the disability and the likelihood of accidentis an act of discrimination.
