• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.23-48
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• 2008

Although the universal health insurance, National Health Insurance (NHI), have improved access to health care and financial burden of health care costs for Koreans, limited coverage of the NHI leads to high out-of-pocket payment for health care. This study examines financial burden of household health expenditures by income level. Data from the Urban Household Expenditure Survey from 1985 through 2005 is analyzed and household expenditure is used as a proxy measure for income. Health expenditures include spending for inpatient care, ambulatory care and pharmaceuticals. If a household spends health expenditure above 40% of household consumption except for foods, that is defined as catastrophic health expenditure. Access to health care for the lowest income group had been improved for two decades relative to other income groups as well as in absolute term. However, both financial burden of health expenditures and the proportion of households that experienced catastrophic health expenditure had been increased in the lowest income group. Study findings have several policy implications. First, in terms of financial burden of health expenditures. the differences among income groups decreased until 2000 but it was worsen in 2005. This suggests that recent policies for extending NHI coverage are not enough to improve the disparity by income level. Second, a differential catastrophic coverage by income level would be an effective strategy that relieves financial burden for low income group. Third, since the catastrophic coverage is applied to only covered services by the NHI, additional strategy for uncovered services should be considered.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.90-109
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• 2008

Government has extended the benefit coverage and reduced out-of-pocket (OOP) payment for cancer patients in 2005. This paper intends to examine the impact of the above policy on the equity in health care utilization. This paper analyzed the national health insurance data and compared the health care utilization of cancer patients before and after the policy change for people with 10 different income levels. For the equity in health care utilization, we examined the change in concentration index (CI) for visit days, inpatient days, and health expenditure. In the case of outpatient care, CI of visit days and health expenditure were positive(favoring the rich) in both regional and employee health insurance members and both 'before' and 'after' the policy change. CI values rarely changed after the policy change, and the policy change seems to have little impact on the equity of outpatient care utilization except expenditure of regional subscriber. In the case of inpatient care, CI of inpatient days was negative and CI of health expenditure was positive in both regional and work subscriber and both 'before' and 'after' the policy change. After the policy change, CI of inpatient expenditure in both groups of members decreased. CI of inpatient days changed in the direction favoring the poor in regional insurance members, but it rarely changed in employee insurance members. These results suggest that the policy of reducing OOP payment has a positive impact and reduced the inequity particularly in the utilization of inpatient care of cancer patients.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.400-410
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• 2023

Background: As the government has recently been discussing the expansion of the disaster health expenses support project, we would like to confirm the characteristics of beneficiaries of the support project, particularly those of high-cost beneficiaries. Methods: Using the database of catastrophic health expenditure support project from 2019-2020, this study aims to confirm the characteristics of high-cost beneficiaries focusing on the overlap of the relieved out-of-pocket systems, known as the out-of-pocket ceiling system and the system for rare incurable diseases. Logistic regression analysis is used to examine this issue. Results: In order to analyze the factors influencing high-cost beneficiaries, five models were created and analyzed, including the status of duplicated beneficiaries for relieved out-of-pocket systems, sociodemographic and economic factors, and individual health status as sequential independent variables. All five models were statistically significant, of which economic factors had the greatest impact on the model's predictions. The main results indicated that those who benefited from multiple systems in duplicate were more likely to be high-cost beneficiaries, and there is a higher probability of incurring high health expenses among the underage. In addition, within the beneficiaries of catastrophic health expenditure support project, it was observed that higher health insurance premium percentiles are associated with a higher proportion of high-cost beneficiaries. Conclusion: This study examined the characteristics of high-cost beneficiaries by encompassing reimbursement and non-reimbursement. According to this study, it is expected to be used as basic data for setting priorities and improving the current criteria of catastrophic health expenditure support project, aiming to sequentially expand the program.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.160-164
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• 2008

This study investigated the current status and drug expenditure of the drug shortage prevention program in Korea. National health insurance claims data from 2001 to 2005 were analyzed for the drugs with inadequate supply, which were designated as shortage prevention drugs (SPDs). Drug use of SPDs have increased every year, but the average increase rate of drug expenditure for SPDs, 13.5% was lower than that for all the reimbursed drugs, 18.6%. Drugs with price increase based on production cost were more actively used than drugs with prescription incentives for doctors.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.245-253
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• 2021

Objectives: The objective of this paper was to estimate a South Korean's lifetime dental expenditures for periodontitis. Methods: For our study, we collected data from the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHPS), from 2010 to 2016. The outpatient dental care data of 1,919,608 samples of periodontitis were extracted using R version 3.0 and estimations of lifetime dental expenditures for them were generated using Excel. Results: Over 50% of the lifetime dental expenditure of South Koreans was spent for periodontitis, and incurred after the age of 40. The results showed that an estimate of average per capita lifetime dental expenditure for men (approximately 13 million won) was greater than that for women (approximately 8.8 million won) for periodontitis. Conclusions: Efficient methods for the prevention and management of periodontitis are necessary, and a new paradigm of health care system is required to reduce dental expenditure through its prevention.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.207-224
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• 2012

This study estimates the total health expenditure of ambulatory dental care and explores the factors related to disbursements. The study used two waves of a 2008 Korea Health Panel (KHP) survey, of which each wave is composed of 7866 households and 24,659 persons. The KHP includes missing expanses of reimbursement data of the National Health Insurance (NHI), such as out-of-pocket, drugs, and private health insurance. The study estimates total monthly ambulatory dental expenditure and the sub-special categories of dental care. For influential factors analyses, the study exploits log-linear model with age, gender, education, job, equivalence income, the status of chronic diseases, means-tested benefit recipients, private insurance, and the composite deprivation index as independent variables. The total monthly outpatient health spending is estimated to be 102,468 won per household, and for dental, each household spends 31,115 won per month. Older age, means-test recipients, non-regular workers are more likely to spend less money on dental care, whereas private insurers, high income, and those who live in less deprived areas are more likely to spend more money for dental services. From the study we found that the KHP data are more suitable to estimate the total amount of health care markets, especially when the NHI coverage is low, such as for dental care in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.131-143
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to examine the consumption expenditure structure for leisure & recreational service in urban households. For these purpose, the data collected 175 households in Pusan metropolitan city. Statistics employed for the analys were frequencies, means, one -way ANDVA, and multiple regression analysis. The major results of this study were as follows; Average monthly expenditure for leisure, recreational service was 190,342 won. And their expenditure for leisure & recreational service share was 12.89 % of total expenditure. Those expenditure with high income elasticity were hobby & culture education, and journey. And those with low income elasticity were play & inspection, and health & sports. In leisure & recreational service expenditure, the variables which influence were job and degree of household head, and income.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.47-55
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• 2014

Background: Korea is considered to have an integrative health system where both western medicine and Korean (traditional) medicine are officially recognized and provided. Although Korean medicine has been covered by National Health Insurance over 20 years, equity in the utilization of Korean medical care has rarely been examined. Methods: We examined medical care utilization and expenditure of outpatient Korean medicine using panel fixed effects model to remove selection bias. Then we compared it with pooled ordinary least square (OLS) model. This study used Korea Health Panel data, which provides accurate information on out-of-pocket health care payment, including non-covered medical services. Results: Principal findings indicate that the frequency of the utilization of Korean medicine is related with unobservable individual choices different from western medicine, so the panel fixed effect model is appropriate. But pooled OLS model is better fitted for the expenditure of Korean medicine, after controlling for western medical care expenditure. After adjusting for the selection bias, socioeconomic status (income, education) was significantly associated with the expenditure of Korean medicine, but not with the frequency of the utilization of Korean medicine. Conclusion: This study shows that expenditure of Korean medicine utilization is inequitable across socioeconomic groups, which implies that health insurance coverage of Korean medicine is not sufficient.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.369-375
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• 2013

Objective: Using the Korean Health Panel data (KHP) of 2008 and 2009, this paper analyzed the effect of antihypertension medication adherence on the changes in medical service utilization and medical expenditure in the next year. Method: Through a face-to-face interview survey, KHP has provided an extensive data on demographic characteristics, medical utilizations behavior, medical expenditure and health behaviors of the targeted households and their members since 2008. KHP is recognized as highly accurate regarding medical expenditure in that it makes the target households to record 'Health diary' whenever they use healthcare service, which could minimize their cognitive bias or memory distortion. The 2010 KHP data was based on the interview from 6,432 households and 19,697 household members. Two part model was used to explore the effects of medication adherence on medical use (logistic regression analysis) and medical expenditures (OLS). Result: Our study result demonstrated that the 74.7% of the patients who strictly adhere to their medication in both years, in 2008 and in 2009, were likely to use inpatient service in 2010. This shows the noncompliant patients were in fact use emergency service less than the compliant patients. Conclusion: Based on our analysis, this paper concludes that the high medication adherence of hypertensive patients could contribute to reduce the emergency service use. Therefore it is highly recommendable for the Korean government and the insurer, NHIS, to actively invest in developing education and promotion program to improve medication adherence among hypertensive patients.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.23-35
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• 2002

Fiscal crisis in the medical insurance system has put the pressure upon hospitals by increasing the rate of curtailment, since the implementation of the separation of prescription and dispensing of medicine. The purpose of this study is to analyse the curtailment of mdical and drug expenditure before and after the system of separation between prescribing and dispensing and to suggest the problems about current inspection system. Data were obtained from 13 general hospitals and used for analysis of trends on medical & drug expenditure, and curtailment in 1999-2000 at three months intervals. The results were as follows; The scale of curtailment for drug expenditure has been increased on outpatient and inpatient since 2000. For the curtailed drug cost with outpatient, the ratio of curtailed drug expenditure has been increased in the case of prescription within the hospital. These results suggest that review system in social insurance were over-focused to control the cost and it might to impede the validity of review function in insurance system. Therefore, it' s needed to develope the scientific and reasonable criteria for Inspection and evaluation of durg expenditure.