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KMID : 1170320090150010059
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Korean Journal of Health Economics and Policy
2009 Volume.15 No. 1 p.59 ~ p.77
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The Trend in Catastrophic Health Payments by Income Strata in South Korea
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Kim Youn-Hee
Yang Bong-Min
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Abstract
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This study was performed to explore the trend of Korean catastrophic health payments by income strata from 1982-2005. The data used in this study were from the Household Income & Expenditure Survey (HIES) of Korea, which is conducted annually by the Korean National Statistical Office (KNSO) and covers representatives of national households. A catastrophic health payment was defined as a health payment that is 40 % over the ability to pay as proposed by Xu et al.(2003). The results showed that the proportion of total households with catastrophic health payments decreased gradually from 3.60% in 1982 to 1.63% in 2000. In contrast, it rose in more recent years and reached 2.15% in 2005. More rural households spent health payments catastrophically than urban households did. The proportion of total households with catastrophic health payments by income quintile based on tax and insurance was calculated. This result showed that households in lower economic brackets were more likely to face catastrophic health payments. Moreover, the gap in the proportion of households with catastrophic health payments between the highest income group and lowest income group became wider. This study showed that the medical safety net in South Korea was insufficient and that a policy should be established in order to protect especially low income households from occurrence of catastrophe due to health payments.
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KEYWORD
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Catastrophic, Health payment, Income Strata, South Korea, Medical Safety Net
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