[WHY] How is traditional medicine surviving in Korea? Ask drivers.

A traditional medicine doctor administers pharmacopuncture in this stock photo. [GETTY IMAGES BANK]

Got into a fender-bender? Take a photo of the scene and call your insurance company right away — but afterwards, consider visiting a traditional medicine clinic.

Such advice is all the rage in Korea these days. With winter comes snow, and with it, a spike in unfortunate traffic accidents. “Go visit a traditional medicine clinic,” rather than a Western-style hospital, is one of the most common things someone involved in a car crash in Korea will be told, even if their injuries seem minor or nonexistent at first glance.

But remember; it applies only when the other party appears to be clearly at fault. Or so IVE’s An Yujin was told, according to her comments during a YouTube interview released on Jan. 28.

IVE member An Yujin recalls advice she saw on the internet, saying, ″Go to a traditional medicine hospital″ when involved in a car accident, during a YouTube interview released on Jan. 28. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

“I’ve seen this advice on the internet — it said that if the other party is at fault in a car accident, whereas you’re not, you should go to a traditional Korean medicine hospital,” the K-pop idol said while discussing things she wanted to do after getting her driver’s license.

As staff at the studio laughed, An hastily added, “That’s just something I saw on the internet — of course, I shouldn’t do that.”

Her comments drew mixed reactions, with some nodding in agreement while others, especially traditional medicine practitioners, criticized her for implying traditional clinics would falsely or excessively diagnose traffic accident patients for profits.

An office worker in his 40s whose car was sideswiped in October last year was also told to check into a hospital within 48 hours, although he felt no immediate pain or injury.

“When you don’t know where exactly you might feel pain later but should find a medical facility that can admit patients right away, that’s where a Korean medicine clinic comes in,” he said.

The clinic offered him a “full package,” including an X-ray, Chuna manual therapy — a traditional manipulative treatment for musculoskeletal disorders — acupuncture and traditional herbal medicine. The treatments cost him, and thus the other party’s insurance company, at least 200,000 won ($140) per visit, with the treatment spanning multiple weeks.

“It gives you an edge when negotiating for the settlement,” he said.

But are such clinics a cash grab? Not entirely.

When it comes to car accident injuries, there tends to be more beneath the surface than meets the eye — an area known to be an expertise of Korean medicine, especially for those who feel let down by Western treatments. Insurers, on the other hand, often criticize traditional hospitals for draining their resources in a tight economy.

Here is a closer look into the lucrative business of traditional medicine clinics in the aftermath of car accidents, as they strive to survive, and even thrive, in the modern era.

Why visit a traditional medicine practitioner after a car crash?

Despite a clear decline in the popularity of traditional medicine over the past decade or so, proponents argue that car accident recovery has been one of the few areas where Korean traditional medicine outperforms Western competition — at least when it comes to business.

An image of a car driving on a snowy day [GETTY IMAGES BANK]

Data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service released last June showed that the value of medical claims to auto insurers for treatment at Korean traditional medicine facilities first surpassed those for Western medical facilities in 2021, totaling 1.12 trillion won and 1.08 trillion won, respectively, and have continued to rise ever since. By 2023, traditional medical bills reached 1.49 trillion won while Western medical bills stood at 1.07 trillion won.

Korean medicine doctors argue that traditional approaches, including Chuna manual therapy, acupuncture and cupping therapy, are effective especially for musculoskeletal symptoms, which are common among car accident patients. They also point out that minor injuries from car crashes, especially those involving the neck or back, can be felt hours or perhaps days after the initial collision, due to muscles and ligaments becoming increasingly strained over time. Less obvious injuries and gradual pain, therefore, can be harder to diagnose or sufficiently treat at Western hospitals compared to visible injuries.

A research team under Park Hye-rin, a Korean medicine doctor at Chung-Yeon Korean Medicine Hospital and Sul Jae-uk, professor of Korean rehabilitation medicine at Dongshin University, found that an integrative treatment of Korean and Western medicines accelerated the healing of back injuries caused by car accidents in their paper published on Frontiers in Pharmacology in 2022.

“There are many cases where patients with post-car accident symptoms who experienced slow recovery with conservative treatment in [Western] medical clinics see faster pain relief after getting treatments from Korean traditional medicine,” the team said.

A source from the insurance industry, who wished to remain anonymous, also acknowledged traditional medicine’s appeal.

“There are cases where patients clearly feel the pain, but conventional Western medical examinations fail to identify the cause,” he noted, reflecting on his own experience being involved in a car accident.

“Marketing elements, such as luxurious facilities, would certainly add to the appeal — the problem is that the cost can snowball excessively.”

The rising cost is also often seen as a result of a perfect match between supply and demand — hospitals and patients.

Traditional clinics are incentivized to make it easier for car accident patients to get diagnosed for their, perhaps mild, symptoms and offer expensive, long-term treatment packages based on a “holistic approach” involving overall physical conditions. For patients, higher medical bills often mean higher settlements, further motivating them to visit traditional clinics for extravagant therapies.

[GETTY IMAGES BANK]

Why is it controversial?

A notable trend in traditional medicine is that its price has been rising more rapidly than the number of patients.

According to a report National Institute for Korean Medicine Development published last July, the number of claims made to auto insurers for medical bills at traditional medicine hospitals — defined as a traditional medical facility that can accommodate 30 patients or more — rose 19.4 percent to 5.42 million in 2022. The combined value of bills increased more steeply by 22 percent to 801.3 billion won during the same period.

The number of bills at traditional medicine clinics, often operated by a single traditional doctor, remained nearly unchanged at 7.58 million in 2022, while the cost rose 4.3 percent to 727.2 billion won.

The steep growth in costs, coupled with financial authorities’ pressuring insurers to lower their premiums, has weighed on the profitability of auto insurance companies. The loss ratios — the proportion of claims paid out to total premium collected — of seven major auto insurance providers in Korea averaged 82.9 percent in the January-November period of last year. A loss ratio of around 80 percent is widely considered the breakeven point.

“Korean medicine clinics aim to attract as many car accident patients as possible, providing consultations specifically designed [for such cases] and pre-set treatment plans,” said a source from the insurance industry.

“Unless it’s a broken bone or a severe injury like that, most symptoms tend to improve naturally, but Korean medicine hospitals frequently prescribe acupuncture, herbal medicine and whatnot,” the source said. “Another key issue lately is that Korean medicine hospitals often prescribe treatments combined with Western medicine to ensure the treatments will be eligible for auto insurance coverage.”

However, Korean medicine practitioners point out that the insurers’ average loss ratio has actually improved from 92.9 percent in 2019 to 80.7 percent in 2023, with revenue growing.

“Insurance companies are being hypocritical considering that they continued to report profit, despite factors contributing to deteriorating loss ratios, such as financial authorities urging them to lower insurance premiums,” the Korean Medicine Hospitals’ Association said in a statement last July.

The association argued that wider coverage of auto insurance products compared to that available under national health insurance and Korean medicine’s specialty in musculoskeletal symptoms are the main reasons behind the rising popularity among car accident patients.

“More patients are opting for traditional Korean medicine because it is more effective,” the association stressed.

Why does traditional medicine persist today?

Although its popularity has declined among younger generations, traditional medicine still remains a steadfast presence in everyday life in Korea.

Seven out of 10 Koreans have experienced traditional medicine treatment, mainly due to musculoskeletal symptoms, according to a biennial report the Ministry of Health and Welfare published in March 2023. Acupuncture was the most commonly prescribed treatment, followed by moxibustion and cupping therapies.

One of the most appealing factors of Korean traditional medicine is its accommodating nature.

“Service attitudes by medical practitioners can be inferred to be a significant factor in car accident patients’ intention to revisit the clinic, considering that the strength of traditional medicine lies in not only pain relief but in holistic treatment,” reads a research paper co-authored by Kim Jae-woo, a manager of the insurance policy team at the Association of Korea Medicine.

The duration of a doctor’s consultation with patients during their first visit to a traditional clinic averaged at 18 minutes and 23 seconds, compared to the average of 6 minutes and 14 seconds recorded at Western clinics, according to the paper.

“Rather than viewing the increase in Korean traditional medical claims to auto insurance as problematic, it is necessary to understand that traditional medical service based on a holistic approach can be beneficial and to promote further research and policy development on auto insurance policies to ensure the sustainability of traditional health care services,” it said.