Catastrophic Health Expenditures and Its Inequality in Households with Cancer Patients: A Panel Study

Munjae Lee,Kichan Yoon

doi:10.3390/pr7010039

Abstract

This study aims to examine the determinants of catastrophic health expenditure in households with cancer patients by conducting a panel analysis of three-year data. Data are adopted from surveys administered by Korea Health Panel for 2012–2014. We conducted correspondence and conditional transition probability analyses to examine households that incurred catastrophic health expenditure, followed by a panel logit analysis. The analyses reveal three notable results. First, the occurrence of catastrophic health expenditure differs by age group, that is, the probability of incurring catastrophic health expenditure increases with age. Second, this probability is higher in households with National Health Insurance than those receiving medical care benefits. Finally, households without private health insurance report a higher occurrence rate. The findings suggest that elderly people with cancer have greater medical coverage and healthcare needs. Private health insurance contributes toward protecting households from catastrophic health expenditure. Therefore, future research is needed on catastrophic health expenditure with focus on varying age groups, healthcare coverage type, and private health insurance.

Highlights

In Korea, the death rate attributable to cancer accounts for 28.6% (2014) of total mortality and this rate increased from 23.8% in 2000 and 25.8% in 2002 to 27.0% in 2005
We present the general characteristics of households with cancer patients by year (Table 2)
The analysis subjects include 1380 households with cancer patients that responded to all surveys for years 2012–2014

Summary

Introduction

In Korea, the death rate attributable to cancer accounts for 28.6% (2014) of total mortality and this rate increased from 23.8% in 2000 and 25.8% in 2002 to 27.0% in 2005. By 2013, the number of cancer patients grew by 94.2% (225,343) compared to that reported in 2002 (116,034). This implies a constantly widening demand for medical services by cancer patients. In reality, out-of-pocket payments remain high considering the high rate of covered charges and are a burden to both households and the nation. To address this issue, the Korean government is implementing a detailed policy that expands coverage to four major diseases with higher health expenditure burden: cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, and rare intractable disease

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Conclusion