Light and Shadows of the Korean Healthcare System

This article reviewed achievements and challenges of the National Health Insurance of the Republic of Korea and shared thoughts on its future directions. Starting with large workplaces of 500 or more employees in 1977, Korea's National Health Insurance successfully achieved universal coverage within just 12 yr in 1989. This amazing pace of growth was possible due to a positive combination of strong political will and rapid economic growth. Key features of Korea's experience in achieving universal coverage include 1) gradual expansion of coverage, 2) careful consideration to maintain sound insurance finances, and 3) introducing multiple health insurance societies (multiple payer system) at the initial stage. Introduction of the health insurance has dramatically improved Korea's health indicators and has fueled the rapid growth of basic medical infrastructure including medical institutions and professionals. On the other hand, the successful expansion was not free from side-effects. Although coverage has gradually expanded, benefits are still relatively low. The current situation warrants concern because coverage expansion is driven by welfare populism asserted by irresponsible political slogans and lacks a social consensus on basic principles and philosophy regarding the expansion. Concentration of patients to a few large prestigious hospitals as well as the inefficiencies resulting from a colossal single-payer system should also be pointed out

Role of Healthcare in Korean Long-Term Care Insurance

With the rapid aging of the population, Korea introduced public long-term care insurance for older people in 2008. The long-term care insurance was designed as a separate scheme from the national health insurance, with eligibility qualifications and the certification process based on functional disability, benefits and coverage of community-based and institutional care, and a financing structure through multi-party contributions. Delivering appropriate health services to long-term care beneficiaries who manifest a high prevalence of comorbid chronic conditions with rising healthcare costs, however, presents a particular challenge. The lack of coordination between the health and long-term care sectors, limited consideration of physicians' assessments in the certification process, inadequate provision of health services in long-term care facilities, and overlapping and inefficient use of care resources act as barriers to providing comprehensive healthcare for older beneficiaries. Through active participation in the long-term care system, health professionals can help older patients navigate through the complex long-term care terrain to obtain quality healthcare

National Screening Program for Transitional Ages in Korea: A New Screening for Strengthening Primary Prevention and Follow-up Care

Screening can effectively reduce mortality and morbidity in some diseases. In Korea, a practical national screening program for chronic disease was launched in 1995 and several problems were discussed. The program focused primarily on disease detection without follow-up care. In addition, the test items were uniform regardless of subject's age, sex, or risk factors; and people with low socioeconomic status were excluded. To improve the quality of program, a new national screening program called the "National Screening Program for Transitional Ages (NSPTA)" was initiated in 2007. It targeted two age groups, ages 40 and 66, because these ages are important transition periods in one's lifecycle. Follow-up care and education for lifestyle modification has been intensified; screening tests for mental health problems and osteoporosis have been introduced. The pool of eligible participants has been expanded to include people supported by Medicaid. This review aimed to describe the contents, process, and characteristics of the NSPTA and to compare it with the previous program. In addition, some preliminary results from 2007 to 2009 were presented. Lastly, we suggest several points that need to be considered to improve the program such as enhancement of participation rates, necessity of specialized committee and research for current screening program to be supported by evidence

Economic Burden of Schizophrenia in South Korea

This study estimates the treated prevalence of schizophrenia and the annual costs associated with the illness in Korea in 2005, from a societal perspective. Annual direct healthcare costs associated with schizophrenia were estimated from National Health Insurance and Medical Aid records. Annual direct non-healthcare costs were estimated for incarceration, transport, community mental health centers, and institutions related to schizophrenia. Annual indirect costs were estimated for the following components of productivity loss due to illness: unemployment, reduced productivity, premature mortality, and caregivers' productivity loss using a human capital approach based on market wages. All costs were adjusted to 2005 levels using the healthcare component of the Consumer Price Index. The treated prevalence of schizophrenia in 2005 was 0.4% of the Korean population. The overall cost of schizophrenia was estimated to be $3,174.8 million (3,251.0 billion Won), which included a direct healthcare cost of$ 418.7 million (428.6 billion Won). Total direct non-healthcare costs were estimated to be $121 million (123.9 billion Won), and total indirect costs were estimated at$ 2,635.1 million (2,698.3 billion Won). Unemployment was identified as the largest component of overall cost. These findings demonstrate that schizophrenia is not rare, and that represents a substantial economic burden

Estimating the lifetime economic burden of stroke according to the age of onset in South Korea: a cost of illness study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The recently-observed trend towards younger stroke patients in Korea raises economic concerns, including erosion of the workforce. We compared per-person lifetime costs of stroke according to the age of stroke onset from the Korean societal perspective.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A state-transition Markov model consisted of three health states ('post primary stroke event', 'alive post stroke', and 'dead') was developed to simulate the natural history of stroke. The transition probabilities for fatal and non-fatal recurrent stroke by age and gender and for non-stroke causes of death were derived from the national epidemiologic data of the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Services and data from the Danish Monitoring Trends in Cardiovascular Disease study. We used an incidence-based approach to estimate the long-term costs of stroke. The model captured stroke-related costs including costs within the health sector, patients' out-of-pocket costs outside the health sector, and costs resulting from loss of productivity due to morbidity and premature death using a human capital approach. Average insurance-covered costs occurring within the health sector were estimated from the National Health Insurance claims database. Other costs were estimated based on the national epidemiologic data and literature. All costs are presented in 2008 Korean currency values (Korean won = KRW).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The lifetime costs of stroke were estimated to be: 200.7, 81.9, and 16.4 million Korean won (1,200 KRW is approximately equal to one US dollar) for men who suffered a first stroke at age 45, 55 and 65 years, respectively, and 75.7, 39.2, and 19.3 million KRW for women at the same age. While stroke occurring among Koreans aged 45 to 64 years accounted for only 30% of the total disease incidence, this age group incurred 75% of the total national lifetime costs of stroke.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A higher lifetime burden and increasing incidence of stroke among younger Koreans highlight the need for more effective strategies for the prevention and management of stroke especially for people between 40 and 60 years of ages.</p

Results of Colorectal Cancer Screening of the National Cancer Screening Program in Korea, 2008

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate the current situation of national colorectal cancer screening by analyzing participation rates, positive rates of screening methods and screening rate of secondary screening tests in colorectal screening of the national cancer screening program in 2008.0aMATERIALS AND METHODS: With database about target population and screened individuals of the national cancer screening program, the results of target population and participants of colorectal cancer screening in 2008 were analyzed. Among adults aged over 50 years of medical aid and beneficiaries of national health insurance paying lower 50% premiums in the total subscribers, 4,640,365 were target population of colorectal cancer screening and the data of 984,915 undergoing fecal occult blood test (FOBT) as a primary screening were analyzed.0aRESULTS: The colorectal cancer screening rate was 21.2% and the rates of national health insurance subscribers, females and the elderly aged 60-64 years were higher than those of others. The recipients with a positive result in FOBT recorded approximately 7.5%. Medical aid beneficiaries (7.9%), males (8.8%) and seniors aged over 75 years (9.1%) showed higher positive rates than the average one. Out of the FOBT positive recipients, 43.0% took a secondary screening and the rate undergoing colonoscopy (31.4%) was higher than that of doing double-contrast barium enema test (11.6%).0aCONCLUSION: Colorectal cancer screening rate of medical aid beneficiaries and people paying lower 50% premiums among national health insurance subscribers, was different according to demographic characters (gender, age and types of health insurance). This finding meant that screening for the vulnerable needed to be encouraged by considering socio-demographic characters. Additionally, more efforts were necessary to increase the secondary screening rate of people with a positive result in primary one.ope

Continuity of Care for Elderly Patients with Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertension, Asthma, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Korea

We sought to assess continuity of care for elderly patients in Korea and to examine any association between continuity of care and health outcomes (hospitalization, emergency department visits, health care costs). This was a retrospective cohort study using the Korea National Health Insurance Claims Database. Elderly people, 65-84 yr of age, who were first diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (n=268,220), hypertension (n=858,927), asthma (n=129,550), or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, n=131,512) in 2002 were followed up for four years, until 2006. The mean of the Continuity of Care Index was 0.735 for hypertension, 0.709 for diabetes mellitus, 0.700 for COPD, and 0.663 for asthma. As continuity of care increased, in all four diseases, the risks of hospitalization and emergency department visits decreased, as did health care costs. In the Korean health care system, elderly patients with greater continuity of care with health care providers had lower risks of hospital and emergency department use and lower health care costs. In conclusion, policy makers need to develop and try actively the program to improve the continuity of care in elderly patients with chronic diseases