• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.137-153
• /
• 2022

In the process of promoting policies to strengthen health insurance coverage, the relationship between public health insurance and private health insurance, along with the management of non-benefit, is also emphasized as a policy issue. First, the concept and scope of non-benefit were comparatively analyzed by country. Second, the interaction between the public and private health insurance was classified as 'large or small,' and the government's regulation and management policy on private health insurance was classified as 'strong or weak.' Korea has relatively smaller benefits covered by public health insurance, higher copayment expenses, and more areas and scope of non-benefits. In countries where the interaction between public and private health insurance is small, private health insurance-related policies are weak. And in countries with large interactions had public-private partnerships and the government's management policies were also strong. On the other hand, Korea has a large interaction, but the actual structure of cooperation between public and private insurance and management policies were weak. Because the non-benefit sector in Korea is relatively wide, it is difficult to manage compared to other countries where the concept of non-benefit is limited. In addition, the health authorities rarely perform the role of supervision over private health insurance, and they have so few linkages and cooperation for public-private insurance. Therefore, practical policy enforcement is necessary to achieve the easing of the burden of national medical expenses through linkage and cooperation of public-private health insurance with reference to relevant other countries' cases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.91-94
• /
• 2024

For nearly four decades, Ugandans have experienced a period marked by hope, conflict, and resilience across various aspects of healthcare reform. The health insurance system in Uganda lacks a legal framework and does not extend benefits to the entire population. In Uganda, community-based health insurance is common among those in the informal sector, while private medical insurance is typically provided to employees by their workplaces and agencies. The National Health Insurance Scheme Bill, introduced in 2019, was passed in 2021. If the President of Uganda gives his assent to the National Health Insurance Bill, it will become a significant policy driving health and universal health coverage. However, this bill is not without its shortcomings. In this perspective, we aim to explore the complex interplay of challenges and opportunities facing Uganda's health sector.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.25 no.4 s.40
• /
• pp.333-342
• /
• 1992

The purpose of this study is to estimate the minimum optimal scale(MOS) of the self-employed health insurance associations. Considering the high proportion of operating expenses, the author have selected 254 regional health insurance associations eon the 1990 Finance Report of the self-employed health insurance programs. Both a quadratic function and a hyperbolic function were chosen for the analysis. The dependent variables are the average maintenance cost per insured person and per household, and the independent variables are the number of insured members and of household The minimum optimal scale was obtained from the differentiation of the quadratic function. Major findings are summarized as follows: 1. The M.O.S. was calculated as 166,174 members (27,442 households) for the rural self-employed health insurance associations and 258,462 members (75,446 households) for the urban. Providing that both the rural and urban health insurance associations would be integrated, the M.O.S. be found to become 231,687 members (68,101 households) 2. Compared with the optimal minimum scale, the magnitude of the current health insurance association found to be much smaller, less than half of the optimal scale. 3. In order to reduce the operating cost, it is necessary to enlarge the operational scale of self-employed health insurance associations.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.24 no.3 s.35
• /
• pp.265-278
• /
• 1991

This study was to examine the effects of insurance coverage on the utilization of public health institutions and to identify the factors associated with the utilization. The data were obtained from household interview surveys conducted twice in Hwachun Gun, Kangwon Do. The time period covered in the first survey was December $17{\sim}31$, 1987, before the implementation of regional medical insurance for the self-employed, and that of the second survey was January 28 $\sim$ Febuary 11, 1990, after its implementation. Major findings emerged from the analysis can be summarized as follows (1) Medical care utilization of rural people markedly increased after they were covered by medical insurance. The insurance coverage increased the utilization of public health institutions as well, and this increase was mainly attributable to the utilization by chronically ill patients. (2) Between 1987 and 1990, the proportion of the utilization of public health institutions over whole medical care utilization decreased. But the proportion increased for chronically ill patients covered by regional medical insurance during the same time span. (3) The results of logistic regression suggested that the rural self-employed utilized public health institutions at an increased rate after they were covered by medical insurance. It was also indicated that the increase resulted from the utilization by chronically ill patients. (4) The relative importance of public health institutions for rural medical care decreased after the implementation of regional medical insurance. But considering that the utilization of public health institutions by chronically ill patients increased after insurance coverage, attention should be directed to improving the capability of public health institutions to control chronic degenerative diseases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.28 no.2 s.50
• /
• pp.450-461
• /
• 1995

This paper tested by using Micro TSP, an empirical econometric analysis to approve officially a hypothesis of price elasticity of the demand for medical care services in Korean national medical insurance and the economic effect of health care delivery system with time-series datas of Medical Insurance Statistical Yearbook$(1981\sim1993)$. The results suggest that the Korean medical insurance system shows moral hazard due to the change of coinsurance and the economic effect according to intervention of the health care delivery system, but it is different by insurers regardless of the same structure of the medical insurance scheme.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.242-247
• /
• 2010

Controlling inappropriate antibiotics prescribing for acute upper respiratory infections(URI) is a very important for prudent use of antibiotics and resistance control. Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) introduced Prescribing Evaluation Program and publicly reported antibiotics prescribing rate for URI of each health institution. We performed segmented regression analysis of interrupted time series to estimate the effect of public report on antibiotics prescribing rate using national health insurance claims data. The results indicate that just before the public report period, clinics' monthly antibiotics prescribing rate for URI was 66.7%. Right after the public report, the estimated antibiotics prescribing rate dropped abruptly by 12.3%p. There was no significant changes in month-to-month trend in the prescribing rate before and after the intervention.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.24 no.2 s.34
• /
• pp.211-220
• /
• 1991

Finances of health insurance can be explained by factors determining benefit expense and premium collection. This study was conducted to analyze factors contributing to the financial status of rural health Insurance. Nationwide 134 health insurance associations except the six pilot project counties were analyzed and obtained the followings. 1. In univariate analysis, statistically significant variables that explain 1) outpatient benefit expenditures include public health center utilization, proportion of pregnant women. premium and collection rate of premium 2) inpatient benefit expenditures include public health center utilization, Proportion of old age, proportion of pregnant women, premium and collection rate of premium 3) profits include public health center utilization, proportion of old age, proportion of pregnant women and collection rate of premium. 2. In multiple regression analysis, statistically significant determinants in 1) outpatient benefit include premium and public health utilization 2) inpatient benefit include premium 3) profit include public health center utilization, premium and collection rate of premium.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.5-18
• /
• 2017

Purpose: This study was conducted to suggest a method for financial projection of health insurance expenditures that reflects future changes in demographic structure. Methods: Using data associated with the number of patients and health insurance cost per patient, generalized linear models (GLM) were fitted with demographic explanatory variables. Models were constructed separately for individual medical departments, types of medical service, and types of public health insurance. Goodness-of-fit of most of the applied GLM models was quite satisfactory. By combining estimates of frequency and severity from the constructed models and results of the population projection, total annual health insurance expenditures were projected through year 2060. Results: Expenditures for medical departments associated with diseases that are more frequent in elderly peoples are expected to increase steeply, leading to considerable increases in overall health insurance expenditures. The suggested method can contribute to improvement of the accuracy of financial projection. Conclusion: The overall demands for medical service, medical personnel, and relevant facilities in the future are expected to increase as the proportion of elderly people increases. Application of a more reasonable estimation method reflecting changes in demographic structure will help develop health policies relevant to above mentioned resources.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.99-128
• /
• 2008

Nearly all Koreans are insured through National Health Insurance(NHI). While NHI coverage is nearly universal, it is not complete. Coverage is largely limited to minimal level of hospital and physician expenses, and copayments are required in each case. As a result, Korea's public insurance system covers roughly 50% of overall individual health expenditures, and the remaining 50% consists of copayments for basic services, spending on services that are either not covered or poorly covered by the public system. In response to these gaps in the public system, 64% of the Korean population has supplemental private health insurance. Expansion of private health insurance raises negative externality issue. Like public financing schemes in other countries, the Korean system imposes cost-sharing on patients as a strategy for controlling utilization. Because most insurance policies reimburse patients for their out-of-pocket payments, supplemental insurance is likely to negate the impact of the policy, raising both total and public sector health spending. So far, most empirical analysis of supplemental health insurance to date has focused on the US Medigap programme. It is found that those with supplements apparently consume more health care. Two reasons for higher health care consumption by those with supplements suggest themselves. One is the moral hazard effect: by eliminating copayments and deductibles, supplements reduce the marginal price of care and induce additional consumption. The other explanation is that supplements are purchased by those who anticipate high health expenditures - adverse effect. The main issue addressed has been the separation of the moral hazard effect from the adverse selection one. The general conclusion is that the evidence on adverse selection based on observable variables is mixed. This article investigates the extent to which private supplementary insurance affect use of health care services by public health insurance enrollees, using Korean administrative data and private supplements related data collected through all relevant private insurance companies. I applied a multivariate two-part model to analyze the effects of various types of supplements on the likelihood and level of public health insurance spending and estimated marginal effects of supplements. Separate models were estimated for inpatients and outpatients in public insurance spending. The first part of the model estimated the likelihood of positive spending using probit regression, and the second part estimated the log of spending for those with positive spending. Use of a detailed information of individuals' public health insurance from administration data and of private insurance status from insurance companies made it possible to control for health status, the types of supplemental insurance owned by theses individuals, and other factors that explain spending variations across supplemental insurance categories in isolating the effects of supplemental insurance. Data from 2004 to 2006 were used, and this study found that private insurance increased the probability of a physician visit by less than 1 percent and a hospital admission by about 1 percent. However, supplemental insurance was not found to be associated with a bigger health care service utilization. Two-part models of health care utilization and expenditures showed that those without supplemental insurance had higher inpatient and outpatient expenditures than those with supplements, even after controlling for observable differences.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.78-97
• /
• 2009

This study examined the factors related to family caregiver satisfaction with institutional care services for beneficiaries under the Public Long-Term Care Insurance(PLTCI) system. Determining what contributes to family caregiver satisfaction is a critical step toward implementing effective quality improvement strategies. A national cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted from November to December 2008, using proportionate quota sampling based on the location and level of Long-Term Care of the beneficiaries. Total 1,745 family caregivers wrote informed consents and 733 (response rate 42%) completed questionnaires, which included caregiver characteristics, organizational resources, primary objective and subjective stressors, perceived quality of services, and family caregiver satisfaction. Family caregivers were satisfied overall with institutional care. In multiple regression analysis, there was a statistically significant difference in degree of family caregiver satisfaction according to caregiver characteristics(relationship to beneficiary), primary objective stressors (insurance type of beneficiary), perceived quality of services(respect to family caregivers' idea, ADL support, expertness of staff, careful concern of staff, fulfillment of client's requests, and safety of institution's environment). In public long-term care, satisfaction efforts are in an early stage of development. This study is meaningful as the first attempt to measure family caregiver satisfaction with institutional care for beneficiaries under the PLTCI system, and to identify factors affecting the satisfaction. Among the identified factors, the policy makers, the insurer, and the providers need to pay attention to perceived quality of services, in particular, to improve customer satisfaction. Our findings can provide quality care improvement initiatives in the public long-term care setting.