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Cataract surgery has increased significantly as the number of indemnity insurance subscribers has increased. Hospitals often recommend expensive surgeries saying that there is no burden if you have indemnity insurance, but it not only causes insurance premiums to rise, but also suffers from side effects.



Reporter Kim Jung-woo on the sidewalk.



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Mr. A in his 50s, whose eyes were blurred due to cataracts, underwent multifocal lens implantation surgery at an ophthalmic hospital in Gangnam, Seoul last November.



Cataract symptoms did not go away, and in 5 months, I had three surgeries at different hospitals, but the condition got worse.



[A's wife: My eyes hurt so much that my heart is weak. He didn't even look at people because he could only see a form. I couldn't even see my nails, so I couldn't cut it.]



Mr. A, who was suffering from aftereffects, took his own life in June, but the bereaved family is preparing a lawsuit saying it was an unreasonable operation.



When some ophthalmology hospitals recommend multifocal lens implantation, which is an uninsured item, which is easy to inflate, the number of cases of indemnity insurance subscribers who are not burdened by insurance premiums for the operation is increasing rapidly.



The price of multifocal lenses, which used to cost 2 million won, soared more than double in one year.



[Insurance company official: With a single focus, surgery on one eye costs about 200,000 won. If it is multifocal (medical expenses), it comes out to about 5 million won.]



Indemnity insurance paid by the top 10 insurance companies last year due to cataracts was 637 billion won, a 2.5-fold increase in two years.



They even collect patients by paying brokers a commission.



[Hwang Hong-seok / Chairman of the Korean Ophthalmology Association: I know that there is a financial relationship with a specific organization (between hospitals) that knows the insurance system well. Currently, we are requesting a prompt investigation from the relevant investigative agency.] With



over-claims for insurance

and

side effects from over-treatment, the Financial Services Commission held a meeting with the insurance industry last month and began to prepare countermeasures for inappropriate, unpaid over-treatment, including cataracts. .



(Video coverage: Park Dae-young, Kang Dong-cheol, video editing: Lee Seung-hee)