Bill proposed to apply 5% coinsurance for follow-up tests

Bill also introduced to require doctors to explain medical accidents to patients and to exclude such explanations from being used as legal evidence

Gyo-heung Kim, “This will resolve the issue of patients being unable to undergo follow-up tests due to financial burdens”

Cheol-soo Ahn, “A law to reduce distrust of medical institutions among patients and their guardians”

An amendment to the National Health Insurance Act is being proposed to reduce the patient coinsurance rate to 5% for follow-up examinations for patients with cancer, rare diseases, and severe or intractable illnesses.

A bill to amend the Patient Safety Act has also been introduced in the National Assembly. It imposes an obligation on doctors to fully explain the details and circumstances of medical accidents to patients, while stipulating that expressions of consolation, empathy, or regret made by doctors during this process cannot be used as evidence of the doctor’s liability or to their disadvantage in medical malpractice lawsuits.

On the 13th, Rep. Kyo-heung Kim of the Democratic Party and Representative Cheol-soo Ahn of the People Power Party each introduced a bill to amend the National Health Insurance Act and the Patient Safety Act, respectively, containing these provisions.

Bill to reduce patient coinsurance for follow-up tests for serious diseases to 5%

Representative Kim’s bill proposes reducing the patient coinsurance rate to 5% for follow-up examinations for cancer, rare diseases, and severe or intractable diseases that have a high risk of recurrence.

Under the current law, insured individuals and their dependents are required to bear part of the cost of medical services when receiving healthcare benefits.

For certain diseases with high treatment costs, a special calculation system is applied in which the patient’s share of medical costs is reduced to 5–10% of the total medical benefit costs for a specified period.

Rep. Kim pointed out that while cancer, rare diseases, and severe or intractable diseases carry a high risk of recurrence even after treatment, making continuous monitoring and follow-up examinations essential, patients face high testing costs once the special calculation exception ends after the disease is cured.

He argued that this creates a problem where patients are unable to receive proper follow-up examinations due to such a financial burden.

To address this, accordingly, Representative Kim introduced a bill that reduces the patient cost-sharing rate to 5% when cancer patients, rare disease patients, or patients with severe or intractable diseases undergo follow-up examinations for their respective conditions.

Bill preventing doctors’ expressions of sympathy after medical accidents from being used as evidence in lawsuits

Representative Cheol-soo Ahn introduced a bill requiring heads of healthcare institutions or healthcare professionals to make efforts to sufficiently explain the details and circumstances of patient safety incidents. The bill also stipulates that expressions of consolation, empathy, or regret made by doctors during this process cannot be used as evidence regarding the doctor’s liability in medical malpractice lawsuits or other legal proceedings.

Under the current law, there is no separate provision requiring doctors to explain the details or circumstances of patient safety incidents.

In particular, doctors sometimes avoid providing explanations or maintain a defensive stance regarding patient safety incidents, as expressions of humanitarian regret or explanations could later be used as evidence of the healthcare institution’s or healthcare professional’s liability in future trials related to the incident.

Representative Ahn expressed concern that the information gap and lack of communication between doctors and patients deepen distrust among patients and their guardians toward healthcare institutions, turning simple incidents into complex legal disputes.

He also noted that this situation creates excessive psychological pressure and litigation burdens on healthcare professionals, contributing to instability in the medical environment.

The proposed bill would therefore require doctors to provide detailed explanations about medical accidents, while explicitly stating that expressions of sympathy, empathy, or regret cannot be used as evidence of liability in medical lawsuits.

Rep. Ahn explained, “This bill aims to restore trust between healthcare professionals and patients and minimize unnecessary social costs, such as those arising from litigation.”