Impact of health insurance status changes on healthcare utilisation patterns: a longitudinal cohort study in South Korea.

Abstract:

OBJECTIVES:The study examined medical care utilisation by health insurance status changes. SETTING:The Korean Welfare Panel Study (KoWePs) was used. PARTICIPANTS:This study analysed 14,267 participants at baseline (2006). INTERVENTIONS:The individuals were categorised into four health insurance status groups: continuous health insurance, change from health insurance to Medical Aid, change from Medical Aid to health insurance, or continuous Medical Aid. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES:Three dependent variables were also analysed: days spent in hospital; number of outpatient visits; and hospitalisations per year. Longitudinal data analysis was used to determine whether changes in health insurance status were associated with healthcare utilisation. RESULTS:The number of outpatient visits per year was 0.1.363 times higher (p<0.0001) in the continuous Medical Aid than in the continuous health insurance group. The number of hospitalisations per year was 1.560 times higher (p<0.001) in new Medical Aid and -0.636 times lower (p<0.001) in new health insurance than in continuous health insurance group. The number of days spent in hospital per year was -0.567 times lower (p=0.021) in the new health insurance than in the continuous health insurance group. CONCLUSIONS:Health insurance beneficiaries with a coverage level lower than Medical Aid showed lower healthcare utilisation, as measured by the number of hospitalisations and days spent in hospital per year.

journal_name

BMJ Open

journal_title

BMJ open

authors

Kim JH,Lee SG,Lee KS,Jang SI,Cho KH,Park EC

doi

10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009538

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2016-04-01 00:00:00

pages

e009538

issue

4

issn

2044-6055

pii

bmjopen-2015-009538

journal_volume

6

pub_type

杂志文章

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