민영건강보험 도입에 따르는 보험계약법적 쟁접의 검토

A variety of problems inherent in the national health insurance system have recently led to an increase in the demand for private health insurance together with a rapid growth of the market. Health insurance is a type of insurance where an insurance company pays for medical expenses when the insured receive the medical treatment they need due to an illness. Although health insurance has characteristics of personal insurance, it is also distinguished from life insurance or compensation insurance in general. Nevertheless, there has been very little research done so far on a domestic scale in regards to the regulations and theories of the insurance laws suitable to the unique aspects of health insurance. The traditional dichotomy method that divides insurance into personal or compensation insurance cannot regulate health insurance in an efficient manner. Accordingly, the type of a health insurance product actually sold to consumers depends on whether the scope of compensation is limited to actual damage resulting from the outbreak of an accident or whether a certain contracted amount of money is to be paid. As for the former, the regulations with regard to compensation insurance must be applied; on the other hand, those with respect to personal insurance must be applied in the latter instance. In such cases, it is believed that the former is subject to the regulations of over insurance, double insurance, and subrogation, all of which are not applicable to life insurance. Moreover, private health insurance must be based on moral hazard countermeasures against excessive benefits resulting from multiple insurance contracts for the same type of accident. Furthermore, those who buy an insurance product must be guaranteed protective measures that impose an obligation to pay for the insurance corresponding to life insurance upon the insured for private health insurance.