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KMID : 1170320220280030001
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Korean Journal of Health Economics and Policy
2022 Volume.28 No. 3 p.1 ~ p.27
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An analysis of outpatient use and expenditure for infertility care
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Moon Ju-Hyeon
Jeon Bo-Young
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Abstract
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This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of women who used outpatient services for infertility and their healthcare expenditure. Using data from the 2012-2018 Korea Health Panel Study, we constructed an unbalanced panel data of women aged 20-49 with a history of using outpatient services due to the diagnosis of female infertility (N97). Among the 13,124 observations (2,951 persons), 98 observations (59 persons, 0.7%) were diagnosed with infertility, and they were 34.7 years old on average. All were enrolled in the National Health Insurance, with a college degree or higher (83.7%), in high-income households of the 5th quintile (55.1%), and working in a regular or permanent position (36.7%). The average user fees, including covered and uncovered payments, were 1.44 million KRW per a woman and 1.45 million KRW per a couple. It accounts for about 2.3% of the total household income. Based on Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Service Use, the predisposing factors, when women were over 35 years of age and had no children, the number of outpatient visits, user fees and its household burden were higher than those under the age of 35 and those with children. Among the enabling factors, there were differences in women's job security, husband’s education level, and household income. There was no significant difference in the outpatient visits for infertility according to the need factors, such as chronic disease and obesity status of women. This study showed that outpatient use for infertility care is concentrated on a higher socio-economic status group, and called for policy attention for women in low-income groups who may experience unmet healthcare needs for infertility treatments.
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KEYWORD
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Infertility, Healthcare expenditure, Outpatient care, Infertility Policy, Korea Health Panel
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