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Changes in dental care utilization and expenditure by the expansion policy of the health insurance coverage : Korea Health Panel Survey 2012-2016

  • Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
  • Abbr : J Korean Soc Dent Hyg
  • 2020, 20(5), pp.611-621
  • DOI : 10.13065/jksdh.20200056
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Dental Hygiene
  • Research Area : Medicine and Pharmacy > Dentistry
  • Received : August 18, 2020
  • Accepted : October 8, 2020
  • Published : October 30, 2020

Hyewon Seo 1 Young-Sil Kim 2

1국민건강보험공단 일산병원
2경복대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Objectives: This study aimed to verify the impact of dental health care insurance coverage policy by analyzing the changes in dental care utilization and expenditures over 5 years from 2012 to 2016, when the dental health insurance coverage expansion policy was implemented. From the national cohort data collected by the Korea Health Panel Survey, a retrospective study was conducted for all household members using dental services. Methods: This study statistically verified the difference in the dependent variables by frequency analysis, chi-square test, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (SPSS version 22, IBM Co. USA, p<0.05). Results: The annual utilization rate steadily increased from 23.4% to 26.1% between 2012 and 2016. Although there were differences in utilization rates by gender, age, and income level, patients kept using the dental services in 2016 regardless of the type of health insurance. The average annual copayment for patient expenditures (out-of-pocket amount) increased from ₩463,844 to ₩537,401 in 2012 and 2016, respectively. Of the dental care expenditures over 5 years, the ratio of uninsured expenses by the elderly decreased from 38.5% to 25.9%, and the national health insurance service coverage increased from 40.3% to 49.1%. Conclusions: Although this policy did not reduce overall patient expenditures, it has been found that there was a positive effect on the elderly and low-income groups; it increased the utilization and access to dental services.

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