Researcher at George Mason University Describes Research in Health Research Policy and Systems (Unintended consequences of healthcare reform in South Korea: evidence from a regression discontinuity in time design): Health and Medicine – Health Research Policy and Systems

Health Policy and Law Daily

2023 JUL 11 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Fresh data on health research policy and systems are presented in a new report. According to news reporting out of George Mason University by NewsRx editors, research stated, “To address concerns over the financial stability of South Korea’s National Health Insurance (NHI) programme, the government transitioned from an outpatient copayment system to a coinsurance system in 2007.”

The news journalists obtained a quote from the research from George Mason University: “This policy aimed to reduce healthcare overutilization by increasing patients’ financial responsibility for outpatient services. Using comprehensive data on NHI beneficiaries, this study employs a regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) design to assess the policy’s impact on outpatient healthcare utilization and expenditures. We focus on changes in overall outpatient visits, average healthcare cost per visit and total outpatient healthcare expenditures. Our findings indicate that the transition from outpatient copayment to coinsurance led to a substantial increase in outpatient healthcare utilization (up to 90%) while decreasing medical expenditures per visit by 23%. The policy shift incentivized beneficiaries to seek more medical treatments during the grace period and enroll in supplemental private health insurance, which provided access to additional medical services at lower marginal costs.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The policy change and the emergence of supplemental private insurance contributed to moral hazard and adverse selection issues, culminating in South Korea becoming the country with the highest per capita utilization of outpatient health services worldwide since 2012. This study underscores the importance of carefully considering the unintended consequences of policy interventions in the healthcare sector.”

For more information on this research see: Unintended consequences of healthcare reform in South Korea: evidence from a regression discontinuity in time design. Health Research Policy and Systems, 2023,21(1):1-16. (Health Research Policy and Systems - http://www.health-policy-systems.com/). The publisher for Health Research Policy and Systems is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-023-00993-9.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Moon Joon Kim, Department of Economics, George Mason University Korea.