• 보건행정학회지
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.30-56
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• 2005

This paper used two threshold approaches to measure the equity in urban households' out-of-pocket payments for health care from 1997 to 2002, which developed by Wagstaff and van Doorslaer. One approach used catastrophic health expenditure, which means that payments exceed a 'pre-specified proportion' of total consumption expenditures or ability to pay and the other used impoverishment that they did not drive households into poverty. Indicies for 'catastrophic expenditure' captured intensity as well as its incidence and also the degree of which catastrophic payments occur disproportionately among poor households. Measure of poverty impact also captured both intensity and incidence. The methods applied with data on out-of-pocket payments from the Urban Household Expenditure Survey Incidence and intensity of catastrophic payments - both in terms of total household consumption as well as ability to pay - increased between 1997 and 2002, and that both incidence and intensity of 'catastrophic expenditure' became less concentrated among the poor, but more concentrated in 2001 than in 1997. The incidence and intensity of the poverty impact of out-of-pocket payments increased between 1997 and 2002. Health security system may not have provided financial protection against catastrophic health expenditure to low-income households, because of high user fee policy not considering income level. The policies alleviating catastrophic health payments among the poor need to be more developed, and two threshold approaches further evaluated on our policy context.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제32권4호
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• pp.546-555
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• 1999

Objectives : To determine the prevalence, pattern. and out-of-pocket expenditure of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) utilization in Korean adult population. Methods : We conducted a representative telephone survey of 2,042 persons aged 18 or older. Data about any health problem, details of their use of medical doctors(MDs) offices/hospitals/pharmacies services and CAM during the preceding 12 months were collected with structured questionnaire. Results : The utilization rate of CAM among Korean adults was 29% in one year. A total of 231 kinds of CAM was identified from this survey. Annual out-of-pocket expenditure associated with CAM use in 1998 amounted to ${\xi}{\S}1.88$ billion and was comparable to 40.8% of out-of-pocket expenditure paid for MDs offices/hospitals/pharmacies services. Among those(N=424) who paid for both MDs offices/hospitals/pharmacies services an d CAM, 35.8% paid more for CAM. CAM gave more satisfaction than western medicine to those who had experience of both types of therapy. About half of CAM users were willing to recommend CAM to others. Disclosure rate to physician among CAM users was not high(40.6%). Conclusion : CAM became a popular source of health care in Korea, Korean spent a substantial amount of out-of-pocket money on CAM without any public control. Because CAM use is likely to be increased rapidly through lay referral system, health policy makers and health professionals should pay more attention to CAM for making appropriate utilization of CAM.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.159-178
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• 2011

Korea ranks high among the OECD member countries with a high out-of-pocket share. In 2006, the government implemented in full scale the policy of extending the health insurance benefit coverage. Included in the policy are lowering the out-of-pocket share of patients of serious case and expanding the medical bill ceiling system to mention just a few. This study proposes to confirm effectiveness of the benefit extension policy by identifying changes in 'out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of the ability to pay' and 'incidence rate of catastrophic health care expenditure' of each individual household as manifested before and after the benefit extension policy was implemented. The 1st and 3rd year data from the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KoWePS), conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), were used for the analysis, where low-income households and ordinary households are sampled separately. While the absolute amount of 'out-of-pocket expenditure' occurred to the average household increased for the period 2005-2007, the 'out-of-pocket expenditure as a share of the ability to pay' decreased. At the same time, the share decreased in the case of low-income households and households with patients of chronic or serious case as contrasted with ordinary households. 'Incidence rates of catastrophic health care expenditure' of ordinary households for 2007 stood at 14.6%, 5.9% and 2.8% at the threshold of 10%, 20% and 30%, respectively. The rates decreased overall between 2005 and 2007, while those of low-income households with patients of serious case statistically significantly increased. An analysis of this study indicates that it is related with the medical bill ceiling system regardless of incomes introduced in 2007.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제32권3호
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• pp.282-292
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• 2022

Background: Aging societies face social problems of increased medical expenses for older adults due to increased geriatric diseases. This study aims to analyze the relationship between the state change of multiple chronic conditions (MCC) and out-of-pocket medical expenses in the elderly aged 60 or older. Methods: The 2014-2018 Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging data were used for 2,202 elderly people. Four status change groups were established according to the change in the number of chronic diseases. The association between the change of MCC and the out-of-pocket medical cost was analyzed using the generalized estimating equation model analysis. Results: The average out-of-pocket total medical costs were 1,384,900 won for participants with MCC and 542,700 won for those without MCC, which was a statistically significant difference (p<0.0001). Compared to the reference group (simple chronic disease, SCD→SCD), the change in multiple chronic conditions significantly increased the total out-of-pocket medical expenses in MCC→MCC and SCD→MCC groups (MCC→MCC: 𝛽=0.8260, p<0.0001; SCD→MCC: 𝛽=0.6607, p<0.0001). Conclusion: In this study, it was confirmed that the prevalence of MCC increased with age, and the out-of-pocket medical cost increased in the case of MCC. Continuity of treatment can be achieved for patients with MCC, and the system and management of treatment for MCC are required to receive appropriate treatment.

• 한국병원경영학회지
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.61-73
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• 2017

In the Health Insurance System of South Korea, patients must pay high out-of-pocket expenditures for the medical service by uninsured medical benefits. So, the government implemented a policy to relieve the burdens of patients by lowering the uninsured selective-medical treatment costs in August, 2014. This study investigate the policy effects of selective-medical treatment(SMT) on the medical service's usage and cost with severe lung cancer patients. The patients are selected in one university hospital(with 1,000 beds), between one year before and after policy implementation. The study find that the usages of outpatient(visit number) and inpatient (length of stay) are not changed by statistically significant. It means that there are no effect in medical service behavior between before and after the policy. In medical expenses, outpatients decreased in their out-of-pocket payments by policy, but total medical expenses and insured medical benefits is not changed, because of the increased another medical insurance fees. For inpatient, although the SMT costs are statistically significant decrease, the total out-of-pocket payments and insured medical expenses are not changed statistically significant. Those findings show that the political decision making about SMT made lowing the selective-medical expenses, but total insured cost and patient's out-of pocket money were not changed by the new increased medical insurance fees. It means that the policy about SMT gave no particular benefit for patients. So, it need another benefit plans to lower the medical expenses of severe lung cancer patients with a high medical service usage and much total medical expense.

• 보건행정학회지
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.383-402
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting family caregiver financial burden of out-of pocket expenses for the nursing home service under Long-term Care Insurance System. We conducted a national cross-sectional descriptive survey from July to September 2010 to collect data based on the long-term care benefits cost specification. Total 1,016 family caregivers completed questionnaires. 185 subjects of total were excluded from the data analysis due to being answered by user(18 cases), or caregivers not to pay for services expenditures(122 cases), having a missing data on family caregivers characteristics(45 cases). Finally, 831 subjects were included in the study. The average financial burden was 3.18(${\pm}0.71$). We divided subjects into two groups by level of burden, high-burden group and low-burden group. In the result of the multiple logistic regression analysis, family caregiver financial burden was significantly higher in family caregivers with ages 40 to 49 compared to less than 40, lower educational level, unsatisfaction for long-term care service, high percentage(more than 50%) of cost-sharing and high total out-of pocket expenses(more than 300,000 won) for long-term care services. Also, Family caregivers who are spouse felt higher financial burden compared to son. This study is meaningful as the first attempt to measure family caregiver financial burden for long-term care service and to identify factors affecting the financial burden. Family caregivers felt financial burden of out-of pocket expenses for the nursing home service. The policy makers, the insurer, and the providers need to pay attention to ease family caregiver financial burden.

• 대한물리의학회지
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• 제10권3호
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• pp.73-79
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• 2015

PURPOSE: This study aims to examine the impact of the location of a walker-aid pocket that is attached to the walker while walking. METHODS: The research subjects included 10 male adults and 10 elderly people. The subjects used a two-wheeled walker for the walking analysis, and a firm velcro-type pocket that can be attached to the walker aid was used for weight loading. The size of the external loads was set at 2kg, which corresponds to approximately 2.5% of the mean body weight of the subjects. The pocket was attached to the left, center, and right sides of the walker aid. Stride length, stride, step width, and time were investigated according to the location change. RESULTS: No statistical differences were observed in all the walking factors among the adults and elderly people regardless of the changes in the location of the walker pocket. In cases of no weight and the 2kg walker pocket, stride length and strides were longer for the adults, while the step width was greater and walking time was longer for the elderly people. CONCLUSION: The weight of the walker pocket turn out to retard walking speed, although the location of the walker pocket is not affect walking with the walker-aid.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.122-140
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• 2019

Providing free primary care to everyone is an important goal pursued by many countries under universal health care programs. Countries like India need to efficiently utilize their limited capacities towards this purpose. Unfortunately, due to a variety of reasons, patients incur substantial travel and out-of-pocket expenses for getting primary care from publicly-funded facilities. We propose a set-covering optimization model to assist health policy-makers in managing existing capacity in a better way. Decision-making should consider upgrading centers with better potential to reduce patient expenses and reallocating capacities from less preferred facilities. A multinomial logit choice model is used to predict the preferences. In this article, a brief background and literature survey along with the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) optimization model are presented. The working of the model is illustrated with the help of numerical experiments.

• 한국사회복지학
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• 제56권3호
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• pp.113-133
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• 2004

본인부담과 관련한 이전의 연구들을 살펴보았을 때 외래와 입원 또는 상병별로 환자개인의 본인부담이 진료비에서 차지하는 비율을 파악하여 우리나라 건강보험이 안고 있는 보장기능의 취약성을 거론하거나 이와는 반대로 의료수요의 가격탄력성을 측정, 소비자의 도덕적 해이의 가능성을 지적하는데 초점을 맞추고 있음을 알 수 있다. 그러나 현재 환자본인이 부담하여야 하는 진료비규모를 파악하여 평균 본인부담액의 실제규모와 본인부담률을 밝히는 동시에 만성질환 보유여부, 의료보장의 종류, 또는 의료서비스 기관에 따른 본인부담의 비형평성 문제에 대하여 직접적으로 논의하는 작업은 극히 미미한 실정이다. 높은 본인부담의 결과로 경제적으로 취약하거나 만성질환에 시달리는 계층이 가장 큰 피해를 입게 된다는 점에서 이에 대한 심도 있는 임상적 및 정책적 논의는 절실하다. 이러한 맥락에서 본 연구는 의료서비스에 대한 계층간 본인부담의 차이가 형평성에 미치는 영향을 분석하고 이에 관련된 정책적 함의를 도출하는데 그 목적이 있다. 본 연구의 결과에서 소득 5분위 대비 최하위 계층의 경우 월등히 높은 만성질환 유병률을 보이고 있음에도 불구하고 최상위층의 6배가 넘는 과중한 본인부담을 안고 있음이 밝혀졌다. 또한 최종적인 회귀분석모형 분석결과는 의료이용 빈도 이외에 환자본인의 인구학적 특성, 가구소득, 만성질환 수, 보험의 종류, 상용치료기관의 종류가 본인부담의 규모를 결정짓는데 있어 영향을 미치는 결정적 요인들로 드러났다.

• 한국공작기계학회논문집
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.75-81
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• 2003

Pocket machining is metal removal operation commonly used for creating depressions in machined parts. Numerically controlled milling is the primary means for machining complex die surface. These complex surfaces are generated by a milling cutter which removes material as it traces out pre-specified tool paths. To machine, a component on a CNC machine, part programs which define the cutting tool path are needed. This tool path is usually planned from CAD, and converted to a CAM machine input format. In this paper I proposed a new method for generating NC tool paths. This method generates automatically NC tool paths with dynamic elimination of machining errors in 2$\frac{1}{2}$ arbitrary shaped pockets. This paper generates a spiral-like tool path by dynamic computing optimal pocket of the pocket boundary contour based on the type and size of the milling cutter, the geometry of the pocket contour and surface finish tolerance requirements. This part programming system is PC based and simultaneously generates a G-code file.