Association between changes in economic activity and catastrophic health expenditure: findings from the Korea Health Pan
- PDF / 709,134 Bytes
- 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 75 Downloads / 236 Views
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation Open Access
RESEARCH
Association between changes in economic activity and catastrophic health expenditure: findings from the Korea Health Panel Survey, 2014–2016 Hyeon Ji Lee1,2, Doo Woong Lee1,2, Dong‑Woo Choi1,2, Sarah Soyeon Oh2,3, Junhyun Kwon1,2 and Eun‑Cheol Park2,4*
Abstract Background: The rate of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) continues to rise in South Korea. This study exam‑ ined the association between changes in economic activity and CHE experiences in South Korea. Methods: This study analyzed the Korea Health Panel Survey data using a logistic regression analysis to study the association between changes in economic activity in 2014–2015 and the participants’ CHE experiences in 2015. The study included a total of 12,454 individuals over the age of 19. The subgroup analyses were organized by sex, age, health-related variables, and household level variables, and the reasons for leaving economic activity. Results: Those who quit economic activities were more likely to experience CHE than those who continued to engage in economic activities (OR [odds ratio] = 2.10; 95% CI [confidence interval]: 1.31–3.36). The subgroup analysis results, according to health-related variables, showed that there is a tendency to a higher Charlson comorbidity index, a higher OR, and, in groups that quit their economic activities, people with disabilities were more likely to experience CHE than people without disabilities (OR = 5.63; 95% CI 1.71–18.59, OR = 1.82; 95% CI 1.08–3.08, respectively). Another subgroup analysis found that if the reason for not participating in economic activity was a health-related issue, the participant was more likely to experience CHE (active → inactive: OR = 2.40; 95% CI 0.61–9.43, inactive → inactive OR = 1.65; 95% CI 1.01–2.68). Conclusions: Those individuals who became unemployed were more likely to experience CHE, especially if health problems precipitated the job loss. Therefore, efforts are needed to expand coverage for those people who suffer from high medical expenses. Keywords: Catastrophic payment, Health expenditures, Economic status, Employment, South Korea Background Healthcare costs are always incurred according to economic principles. Therefore, patients may have to pay healthcare expenses in accordance with the national *Correspondence: [email protected] 2 Institute of Health Services Research, Yonsei University, 50 Yonsei‑ro, Seodaemun‑gu, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
healthcare reimbursement systems and can sometimes suffer from financial stress in addition to their illness, and may experience poverty due to having to pay their medical expenses. The existence of patients substantially suffering from medical costs shows the insufficient health coverage of a country. In 2018, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) average of the proportion of total healthcare spending financed by the public sector
© The Author(s) 2020. This ar
Data Loading...
