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A Study on the Factors that Influence Health Care Expenditure of a Nation

Chulsoo Kim 1,  Ellis Y. Kim 2

1선문대학교
2시카고대학교

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ABSTRACT

This cross-national study examines the factors that affect the healthcare expenditure of a country. Six different groups of variables are studied using the multiple regression method. The variables included are GDP, proportion of population over 65, healthcare system (represented by the numbers of physicians and hospital beds), health status (represented by percentage of babies immunized for measles, infant mortality rate), health risks (represented by tobacco prevalence among the people higher than age of 15), and inequality (indicated by the GINI index). Data were collected from the World Development Indicators database of the World Bank and from the World Health Organization database. Data collected are mainly from 2005. Models were constructed to include all the countries(86), then the countries were divided into four different income levels to examine the explanatory variables. The results show that an influential factor of the healthcare expenditure is the GDP of a nation, GINI index, infant mortality rate, as well as the proportion of the population over the age of 65. The results also show that the factors that determine the healthcare expenditures of a nation are different between the income brackets: the countries with less income were typically affected by the GDP, whereas the countries with higher income were mostly affected by healthcare system (represented by the numbers of physicians and hospital beds). GINI index was important variable for all the income brackets except high-middle income category. Since Korea belongs to high-middle income category, various factors, such as the healthcare system and health risks, influence its healthcare expenditure. However, while the proportion of population over the age of 65 is increasing rapidly, Korea has relatively high GINI index but low public expenditure. Therefore, if the public expenditure does not increase, the burden of private healthcare cost for each individual would inevitably increase. Compared to other countries with similar income level, healthcare expenditure of Korea is then more susceptible, and will rise faster than the countries with comparable GDP.

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