Catastrophic health expenditure according to employment status in South Korea: A population-based panel study

Objectives: Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) means that medical spending of a household exceeds a certain level of capacity to pay. Previous studies of CHE have focused on benefits supported by the public sector or high medical cost incurred by treating diseases in South Korea. This study examines variance of CHE in these households according to changes in employment status. We also determine whether a relationship exists according to income level.
Design: A longitudinal study.
Setting: We used the Korea Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS) conducted by the Korea Institute.
Participants: These data consisted of 5,335 households during 2009-2012.
Outcome measure: CHE defined as health expenditures that were 40% greater than the ability of the household to pay.
Results: Households with people who experienced changes in job status from employed to unemployed (OR 2.79, 95% CI 2.06-3.78) or were unemployed with no status change (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.28-1.92) were more likely to incur CHE comp...