Dental Expenditure by Household Income in Korea over the Period 2008-2017: A Review of the National Dental Insurance Reform.

ABSTRACT: Since 2009, the National Health Insurance in Korea (NHI) has been implementing a series of policies to expand the scope of dental benefits. This study reviewed the changes in co-payments and dental use patterns before (2008 to 2012) and after (2013 to 2017) the NHI's dental health insurance reform. The study used Korea Health Panel data of 7681 households (16,493 household members) from a 10-year period (2008-2017). Dental expenditures and equivalent income using square root of household size were analyzed. Dental services were categorized into 13 types and a concentration index and 95% confidence interval using the delta method was calculated to identify income-related inequalities by a dental service. Dental expenditures and the number of dental services used increased significantly, whi

SUBMITTER: Shin H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8067770 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature