Effects of private health insurance on medical expenditure and health service utilization in South Korea: a quantile regression analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Despite universal health insurance, South Korea has seen a sharp increase in the number of people enrolled in supplemental private health insurance (PHI) during the last decade. This study examined how private health insurance enrollment affects medical expenditure and health service utilization.

Methods

Unbalanced panel data for adults aged 19 and older were constructed using the 2016-2018 Korea Health Panel Survey. Quantile regression for medical cost, and quantile count regression for health service utilization were utilized using propensity score-matched data. We included 17 variables representing demographic, socioeconomic, and health information, as well as medical costs and use of outpatient and inpatient care.

Results

We discovered that PHI enrollee

SUBMITTER: Kwon KN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10629166 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature