Korea’s health-cost claims could reach court sooner than had been expected

South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said yesterday that it would decide the details of its compensation suit against KT&G and other tobacco manufacturers at a board meeting on Jan. 24, according to a story in The Korea Times.

“The board will decide when to file the suit and how much it will seek in damages,” an NHIS official was quoted as saying. “If details are approved, the filing can take place as early as a day after the meeting.”

Given this, the NHIS’s legal action against local and foreign tobacco manufacturers is expected to take place earlier than had previously been expected.

Last month, NHIS President Kim Jong-dae said the NHIS would file a suit against tobacco companies to recover medical costs which it had incurred due to smoking-related diseases.

“Tobacco makers should be responsible for health insurance payments for smoke-related diseases, which stood at 1.69 trillion won in 2009,” he said.