• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.7
• /
• pp.3173-3177
• /
• 2016

Background: The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) in Lebanon provides cancer drugs free of charge for uninsured patients who account for more than half the total case-load. Other categories of cancer care are subsidized under more stringent eligibility criteria. MOPH's large database offers an excellent opportunity to analyze the cost of cancer treatment in Lebanon. Materials and Methods: Using utilization and spending data accumulated at MOPH during 2008-2013, the cost to the public budget of cancer drugs was assessed per case and per drug type. Results: The average annual cost of cancer drugs was 6,475$ per patient. Total cancer drug costs were highest for breast cancer, followed by chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), which together represented 74% of total MOPH cancer drug expenditure. The annual average cancer drug cost per case was highest for CML ($31,037), followed by NHL ($11,566). Trastuzumab represented 26% and Imatinib 15% of total MOPH cancer drug expenditure over six years. Conclusions: Sustained increase in cancer drug cost threatens the sustainability of MOPH coverage, so crucial for socially vulnerable citizens. To enhance the bargaining position with pharmaceutical firms for drug cost containment in a small market like Lebanon, drug price comparisons with neighboring countries which have already obtained lower prices may succeed in lowering drug costs.

• Journal of Korean Society for Geospatial Information Science
• /
• v.12 no.1 s.28
• /
• pp.79-85
• /
• 2004

The GIS(Geographic Information System) projects require big initial investment and cost of maintenance. Decision makers would not launch GIS projects unless they are convinced of the benefits of the projects. Therefore the purpose of this paper is to develop an appropriate model for GIS project evaluation. We proposed a GIS project evaluation model and summarize the steps involved in Cost-Benefit Analysis(CBA). The costs of a GIS implementation include hardware and software cost, costs of database development, training expenses, annual maintenance expenses, and other annual expenses. The benefit by using GIS has been assessed into Type I(direct benefits), Type II(indirect benefits), Type III(benefits that result from the sale of information services), Type IV(intangible benefits).

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.51 no.spc
• /
• pp.1149-1159
• /
• 2018

This study aims to predict the future flood damage cost of 113 middle range watersheds using 26 GCM outputs, hourly maximum rainfall, 10-min maximum rainfall, number of days of 80 mm/day, daily rainfall maximum, annual rainfall amount, DEM, urbanization ratio, population density, asset density, road improvement ratio, river improvement ratio, drainage system improvement ratio, pumping capacity, detention basin capacity and previous flood damage costs. A constrained multiple linear regression model was used to construct the relationships between the flood damage cost and other variables. Future flood damage costs were estimated for different RCP scenarios such as 4.5 and 8.5. Results demonstrated that rainfall related factors such as annual rainfall amount, rainfall extremes etc. widely increase. It causes nationwide future flood damage cost increase. Especially the flood damage cost for Eastern part watersheds of Kangwondo and Namgang dam area may mainly increase.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.1012-1020
• /
• 2013

In this work, Self-adaptive Differential Evolutionary (SaDE) algorithm is proposed to solve Optimal Location and Size of Capacitor (OLSC) problem in radial distribution networks. To obtain the SaDE algorithm, two improvements have been applied on control parameters of mutation and crossover operators. To expand the study, three load conditions have been considered, i.e., constant, varying and effective loads. Objective function is introduced for the load conditions. The annual cost is fitness of problem, in addition to this cost, CPU time, voltage profile, active power loss and total installed capacitor banks and their related costs have been used for comparisons. To confirm the ability of each improvements of SaDE, the improvements are studied both in separate and simultaneous conditions. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm, it is tested on IEEE 10-bus and 34-bus radial distribution networks and compared with other approaches.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
• /
• v.43 no.2
• /
• pp.41-49
• /
• 2012

This study aimed to estimate the economic value of the recreational fishing in the Jeonnam marine ranching area as a part of the total socioeconomic evaluation of the Jeonnam marine ranching program. A travel cost method was applied to the estimation of economic value of the recreational fishing in the Jeonnam marine ranching area and input variables included annual fishing trip days, average travel cost per trip, average catch amount, monthly income, marriage, age, and personal perception on the marine ranching program. In the analysis, due to its characteristic of count data, both poisson model and negative binomial model were used. Model results indicated that a negative binomial model was statistically more suitable than the poisson model as the overdispersion problem occurred in the poisson model. All signs of the estimated parameters were estimated as previous studies showed. Based on the results, the economic value per trip of the recreational fishing in the Jeonnam marine ranching area was estimated to be 145,000 won and the annual total economic value of the recreational fishing in the Jeonnam marine ranching area was analyzed to be 2,514,000 won. In addition, the change of total value by catch rate showed that the economic value could be increased by 180,900 won as the catch increased by one kilogram.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.460-476
• /
• 2012

High-speed crafts suffer from losing a huge amount of their machinery energy in the form of heat loss with the exhaust gases. This will surely increase the annual operating cost of this type of ships and an adverse effect on the environment. This paper introduces a suggestion that may contribute to overcoming such problems. It presents the possibility of reusing the energy lost by the ships' exhaust gases as heating source for an absorption air condition unit onboard high-speed crafts. As a numerical example; the proposed method was investigated at a high-speed craft operating in Red Sea between Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The results obtained are very satisfactory. It showed the possibility of providing the required ship's air condition cooling load during sailing and in port. Economically, this will reduce the annual ship's operating cost. Moreover, it will achieve a valuable reduction of ship's emissions.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.1154-1162
• /
• 2014

In the restructured electricity market, Performance-Based Regulation (PBR) regime has been introduced to the distribution network. To ensure the network stability, this regime is used along with quality regulations. Quality regulation impose new financial risks on distribution system operators (DSOs). The poor quality of the network will result in reduced revenues for DSOs. The mentioned financial risks depend on the quality indices of the system. Based on annual variation of these indices, the cost of quality regulation will also vary. In this paper with regard to reclosing fault in distribution network, we develop a risk-based method to assess the financial risks caused by quality regulation for DSOs. Furthermore, in order to take the stochastic behavior of the distribution network and quality indices variations into account, time-sequential Monte Carlo simulation method is used. Using the proposed risk method, the effect of taking reclosing time into account will be examined on system quality indicators and the cost of quality regulation in Swedish rural reliability test system (SRRTS). The results show that taking reclosing fault into consideration, affects the system quality indicators, particularly annual average interruption frequency index of the system (SAIFI). Moreover taking reclosing fault into consideration also affects the quality regulations cost. Therefore, considering reclosing time provides a more realistic viewpoint about the financial risks arising from quality regulation for DSOs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.11
• /
• pp.223-234
• /
• 2021

This study aims to examine whether operating cash flows influence banks' financial stability in Pakistan. The study employed annual panel data collected from annual reports of 20 commercial banks listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange for the year 2011 to 2019. Free cash flow yield was taken as the dependent variable while cash flow ratio was selected as the independent variable, and net interest margin, income diversification, asset quality, financial leverage, the cost to income ratio, advance net of provisions to total assets ratio, capital ratio, financial performance, breakup value per share and bank size were taken as control variables. The study performed ordinary least square technique, random and fixed effects models, Hausman test, Lagrange multiplier test, descriptive and correlation analysis. Results showed that operating cash flows and net interest margin significantly and positively influenced banks' financial stability while the cost to income ratio and advances net of provisions to total assets ratio significantly and negatively associated with banks' financial stability. To improve financial stability, banks should become more cost-effective and enhance their liquidity levels by lowering lending activities. In the future, it would be useful to compare commercial and investment banks, also Islamic and conventional banks in the same research setting.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.475-480
• /
• 2023

Objectives: This study examined differences in health care spending and characteristics among older adults in Korea by high-cost status (persistently, transiently, and never high-cost). Methods: We identified 1 364 119 older adults using data from the Korean National Insurance Claims Database for 2017-2019. Outcomes included average annual total health care spending and high-cost status for 2017-2019. Linear regression was used to estimate differences in the outcomes while adjusting for individual-level characteristics. Results: Persistently and transiently high-cost older adults had higher health care spending than never high-cost older adults, but the difference in health care spending was greater among persistently high-cost older adults than among transiently high-cost older adults (US$20 437 vs. 5486). Despite demographic and socioeconomic differences between transiently high-cost and never high-cost older adults, the presence of comorbid conditions remained the most significant factor. However, there were no or small differences in the prevalence of comorbid conditions between persistently high-cost and transiently high-cost older adults. Rather, notable differences were observed in socioeconomic status, including disability and receipt of Medical Aid. Conclusions: Medical risk factors contribute to high health care spending to some extent, but social risk factors may be a source of persistent high-cost status among older adults in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.126-134
• /
• 2014

Purpose: This study was aimed to examine the financial effect of 2-tiered copayment system on annual expenditure of pharmacy benefit in the National Health Insurance (NHI) of Korea, focusing on oral antidiabetic medications. Methods: 284 oral antidiabetic products with 14 different active single ingredients listed in the National Formulary of NHI (August 2009) were assigned to tier 1 or tier 2 according to the selected criteria. 10 different combinations of coinsurance rates were selected to estimate the changes in drug expenditure cost of NHI. Results: The annual drug cost was estimated based on the drug price per unit listed in the National Formulary and the used amount of products in 2009 from the IMS Health data of Korea. In the combinations of coinsurance rate of 20% for tier 1 and 40% for tier 2, the total annual drug cost was estimated to be reduced by 1.3% in the case of no change of generic and original drug consumptions, and to be reduced by 4.3% in the case of 10% increased generic drug consumptions. Conclusion: The tiered copayment system with optimal coinsurance rates appears to be a potential strategy to reduce the financial burden of NHI in Korea by promoting the use of generic products.