• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.49-57
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• 2018

This study aims to identify the inequalities and characteristics of health care expenditure of the elderly and non-elderly households by income level. As a result, health care expenditure of elderly households was statistically significantly higher than that of non-elderly households. As a result of calculating the concentration index of health care expenditure by income level, inequality was higher in order of non-elderly households, elderly households, and total households. In order to confirm the effect of health expenditure on household income inequality, we calculated the concentration index of income excluding total health care expenditure from total income. As a result, inequality was higher in order of elderly households, whole households, and non-elderly households. There was not much difference in inequality of health care expenditure among elderly households and non-elderly households. And, the health care expenditure of elderly households was much higher than that of non-elderly households. Also, inequality of health care expenditure by income group was serious. There should be no cases where the medical care support policy for elderly households can not use necessary medical services.

• Journal of Urban Science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2019

This study examines the determinants of emergency care utilization and equity of access to care in elderly Koreans. Based on the data from the 2014 Korea Health Panel Survey, descriptive and logistic regression analysis was performed. The sample for this study was 1,313 individuals who participated in interviews. Predisposing factors such as age, sex, and education were significant determinants of emergency care utilization. Differences in need do not fully account for the original differences observed between subgroups of older Koreans. Health status was important determinant of older Koreans using emergency care services. Spending medical expense did not ameliorate the subgroup differences in the use of emergency care services. Nonetheless, spending medical expense remains a particularly important predictor of emergency care utilization. Health care reforms in Korea should continue to concentrate on insuring effective universal emergency care, implying that all older Koreans with need receive effective coverage. Future study is also needed to understand the access barriers that may exist for the selected demographic subgroups, i.e., those over 75, women, less educated persons, and those with higher medical expense.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.170-186
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• 2013

As the population is getting older, medical expenses amount of the whole is keep increasing. So, the pressure of the finances, Health Insurance, Medical Care Assistance Act and etc, is getting higher. The share of healthcare-expense is increasing due to elderly illness. And it became a social problem; we analysed present state of senior healthcare in South Korea-looked into current laws and policies, and found problems. We tried to suggest improvements that drew from the current state of foreign country senior healthcare of those problems. For the result, we found the problem in relevant-law system of senior healthcare guarantee. In this study, we proposed the ways to qualitatively upgrade of medical standard that considered on elderly' features: the strengthened guarantee for healthcare, financial secure for long-term convalescence benefit, linking and functional reinforcement for elderly welfare and long-term convalescence insurance, the solution for overlapped laws about convalescence in long-term convalescence insurance and elderly welfare, a betterment of grading, and a home service consolidation. We need to secure right amount of emergency medical service budget, and effective management system for the improved level of senior severely emergency medical service. Furthermore, we suggested that South Korea needs to legislate [The Law for Senior Medical Secure] to respond to rapidly increasing senior healthcare fee.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.75-82
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to review literature about private health insurance (PHI) schemes for Korean older adults published in Korea and abroad from 2015 to 2019, and to present the implications of the study and provide an overview of PHI utilization by Korean older adults. Nineteen quantitative academic research papers were selected and analyzed with respect to presentation time, research purpose, data source, and study design. Old age, low income, low education, and chronic disease were found to hinder enrollment in PHI schemes. Although the relationship between PHI and medical usage was not consistent, it was positively related to health outcomes such as subjective health status and health-related quality of life. Therefore, for PHI to fulfill the role of providing supplementary medical care for older adults with high medical demands, a national improvement policy should be developed to address the barriers that prevent older adults adopting PHI schemes, and empirical studies related to medical usages by and the health outcomes of older adults should be conducted in order to generate a basis for the use of PHI.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.221-229
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• 2017

The purpose of this study is to identify the convergence factors affecting the unmet health needs of the indigent elderly. The data the study is the Korean medical panel of 2011 and the parameters belonging to each factors were selected based on the Anderson model. We analyzed the general characteristics using frequency analysis and the correlations between variables using cross analysis. Finally, logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the factors affecting unmet health needs. The indigent elderly with no education and elementary school graduates were 1.5 times more likely to experience unmet health needs than the poverty elderly with high school graduates. The indigent elderly who does not work for income, who were employers and self-employeds were 1.5 times more likely to experience unmet health care need than unpaid family workers. The indigent elderly with disabilities in activites of daily living were 2.9 time more likely to experience unmet health care needs than the indigent elderly with no disability in activites of daily living. The results of this study confirm that the increase in the economic burden of medical care for the indigent elderly can lead to the unmet health needs.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.404-414
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• 2021

This study was to investigate the differences of functional health status and medical service experience and needs between general and vulnerable older people in community. This study is a cross-sectional descriptive research. The data obtained through direct visit surveys from November to December 2016. The target population of the study was older people over 65 years old, the final study subjects were 444 older people residing in one district of Seoul. The chi-square test was conducted to confirm the difference in their functional health areas and medical service experiences, and the necessity of medical service utilization in accordance to the social class. In the experience of abnormality in functional health, the vulnerable older people had higher experience in cognitive function, nutrition, hydration, pain, and falling than the general older people. The rate of experience of using medical service to solve the cognitive function problem for general older people was 31.9%, higher than that of the vulnerable older people. In contrast, the medical service utilization needs of the vulnerable older people in the pain management category was significantly higher than that of the general older people. In setting policy of public medical service programs for general and vulnerable older people in community may be differentially developed based on this study. In order to improve the medical accessibility of the vulnerable older people, public medical institutions should be actively supported to overcome obstacles to medical use due to economic barriers.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.137-138
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• 2014

노인은 대부분의 활동을 주거 공간 중심으로 보내게 되므로, 노화에 따른 만성적 지병과 신체활동의 기능저하로 말미암아 주거와 의료 서비스의 결합은 노인의 생활에 있어서 핵심적인 요소가 아닐 수 없다. 따라서 주거와 의료서비스를 결합한 노인의료주거단지에 있어 노인의 라이프스타일을 반영한 다양한 형태의 주거생활공간에 대한 연구와 대안모색이 필요하다. 참여와 공동창작으로 이루어지는 유니버설서비스디자인의 프로세스를 본 연구에 도입함으로써 주체적이고 활동적인 서비스의 소비자로서의 노인에 대한 적극적인 대안이 될 것이다.

• Korean Journal of Family Social Work
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• no.61
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• pp.59-91
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• 2018

Using a Consensus Qualitative Research approach, this study aimed to identify the ageism and explore age-integration as a solution of age discrimination that occurs during the delivery of medical services by nine healthcare professionals who have experience in treating elderly patients. There were two-sided confession has shown by health care professionals about the Ageism. They reported that they don't discriminate by age. However, They also appealed an inconvenience due to the elderly. There were real Ageism in the Healthcare Professional site as a way of Unsuitable care, elderly alienation and dependence on caregivers, polarization of medical service and double discrimination against poor elderly. They found it difficult to offer age integrated health care as a means to mitigate or solve. However they have sought to break barriers to communication, provided a comfortable environment not only for senior citizens but also for all others, and have diversified institutional and service standards. To ensure the healthy life and proper medical service of the rapidly increasing elderly patients, we proposed to do critical review of the factors in the Korean medical system that accelerate the Ageism, reorganization of the health care system for the poor elderly, including the curriculum associated with age-integrating within the health care professional education system, raising the Geriatric Medical Service and the relating professionals and improvements in perception of the health care domains for the elderly and older adults.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.610-621
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• 2017

Medical cost for elderly is increasing with ageing society and putting more and more burden on both individuals and government. To find a solution to reduce medical cost among elderly and to propose implication/suggestion to central government and a local government, different degree of medical cost burden by type of household and factors that affect increased medical cost are investigated based on elderly in Suwon city in this article. According to the research result, 59.3% of respondents felt medical cost burdensome. Also, according to the multiple regression performed to understand factors that increases medical cost by type of household, subjectively felt health status was found to be a statistically significant factor commonly in three groups which are living household with adult child, living household with spouse only, living household alone. And the degree of medical cost was higher in living household with spouse only, more higher in living household alone. And socioeconomic status and health status, health status, and health status and private insurance, medical security system were found to be significantly related to medical cost burden to household type of the elderly.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.49-64
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• 2022

This study aims to investigate unmet healthcare needs due to economic or non-economic difficulties among the elderly aged 65 or older. Using Korea Health Panel Survey (KHPS) data from 2018, the elderly are classified into one of four groups (health insurance subscribers, non-take-up, lower income relief, and medical aid recipients) based on their level of medical vulnerability. For hospital or dental care, the prevalence rates of unmet healthcare needs due to economic and non-economic difficulties are 12.6% and 10.6%, respectively. The prevalence rate of unmet healthcare needs due to economic difficulty in the medically vulnerable group was much higher than that of the non-vulnerable group-that is, health insurance subscribers. After controlling for other influential factors, medical vulnerability has a great impact on the prevalence rates of unmet healthcare needs due to economic difficulties. Compared to health insurance subscribers, the non-take-up, the lower relief, and the medical aid recipients are 1.4 times, 3.3 times, and 2.4 times more likely to experience unmet healthcare needs due to economic difficulty, respectively. The results of this study can provide important policy implications for securing essential healthcare resources for the elderly.