The impact of economic crisis on health-care consumption in Korea

This study uses urban household income-expenditure survey data, national health insurance claims data, and public health centre surveys to examine the impact of economic crisis on the consumption of health services in Korea. The analysis shows that the health-care consumption of Korean households ha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health policy and planning 2001-12, Vol.16 (4), p.372-385
Main Authors: Yang, Bong-Min, Prescott, Nicholas, Bae, Eun-Young
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Budgets
Budgets - legislation & jurisprudence
Consumer Price Index
Consumption
Developing Countries - economics
Economic conditions
Economic crisis
Expenditures
Family Characteristics
Family income
Health
Health administration
Health care
Health care expenditures
Health care policy
Health Care Surveys
Health economics
Health Expenditures - statistics & numerical data
Health facilities
Health insurance
Health planning
Health services
Health Services - economics
Health Services - statistics & numerical data
Hospitals
Households
Humans
Income
Insurance claims
Korea
Low income groups
Mortality
National health insurance
National Health Programs
Patients
Pharmacy
Population
Public health
Social Class
Unemployment
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Summary:This study uses urban household income-expenditure survey data, national health insurance claims data, and public health centre surveys to examine the impact of economic crisis on the consumption of health services in Korea. The analysis shows that the health-care consumption of Korean households has been adversely affected by the recent economic crisis, as measured by amount of expenditure on health. Distributional implications for health sector use are also found. Whereas the use of medical services by upper income groups is only slightly affected by the economic crisis, lower income groups are spending relatively less on medical services. Of all households, unemployed households are hit hardest by the crisis. Analysis shows that for all households, the rate of expenditure decrease is relatively higher for drug expenditure than for expenditure on medical services. That is, facing declining income, people cut their spending in the area where the need is non-essential or less inevitable.
ISSN:0268-1080
1460-2237
1460-2237
DOI:10.1093/heapol/16.4.372