Illness, medical expenditure and household consumption: observations from Taiwan

Kuangnan Fang,Shuangge Ma,Chi Ma,Yefei Jiang,Linglong Ye,Ben‐Chang Shia

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-743

Abstract

BackgroundIllness conditions lead to medical expenditure. Even with various types of medical insurance, there can still be considerable out-of-pocket costs. Medical expenditure can affect other categories of household consumptions. The goal of this study is to provide an updated empirical description of the distributions of illness conditions and medical expenditure and their associations with other categories of household consumptions.MethodsA phone-call survey was conducted in June and July of 2012. The study was approved by ethics review committees at Xiamen University and FuJen Catholic University. Data was collected using a Computer-Assisted Telephone Survey System (CATSS). “Household” was the unit for data collection and analysis. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted, examining the distributions of illness conditions and the associations of illness and medical expenditure with other household consumptions.ResultsThe presence of chronic disease and inpatient treatment was not significantly associated with household characteristics. The level of per capita medical expenditure was significantly associated with household size, income, and household head occupation. The presence of chronic disease was significantly associated with levels of education, insurance and durable goods consumption. After adjusting for confounders, the associations with education and durable goods consumption remained significant. The presence of inpatient treatment was not associated with consumption levels. In the univariate analysis, medical expenditure was significantly associated with all other consumption categories. After adjusting for confounding effects, the associations between medical expenditure and the actual amount of entertainment expenses and percentages of basic consumption, savings, and insurance (as of total consumption) remained significant.ConclusionThis study provided an updated description of the distributions of illness conditions and medical expenditure in Taiwan. The findings were mostly positive in that illness and medical expenditure were not observed to be significantly associated with other consumption categories. This observation differed from those made in some other Asian countries and could be explained by the higher economic status and universal basic health insurance coverage of Taiwan.

Highlights

Two measurements were used for illness conditions
Medical expenditure was defined as the per capita, out-of-pocket medical expense accumulated over a period of 12 months
Studies conducted in other Asian regions and countries, including for example rural mainland China, Vietnam, and Thailand, suggested that illness conditions and medical expenditure had a significant negative impact on household consumption, on basic consumption

Summary

Introduction

Medical expenditure can affect other categories of household consumptions. The goal of this study is to provide an updated empirical description of the distributions of illness conditions and medical expenditure and their associations with other categories of household consumptions. Multiple studies have shown that medical expenses can have a far-reaching impact on other categories of consumptions [1,2,3,4]. The underlying mechanism is simple: with a fixed total budget, when medical expense occurs, individuals and households can be forced to reduce other consumptions, including, Taiwan is a state in East Asia. In 2012, the estimated population was about 23 million It has a relatively higher economic status than many other Asian regions and countries. Taiwan is one of the few countries/ regions that offer universal health insurance coverage, which has been applauded as one of the most successful and made Taiwan significantly different from most other Asian countries

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