Journal of Family and Economic Issues

, Volume 36, Issue 3, pp 369–382 | Cite as

Catastrophic Health Expenditures and Life Satisfaction: A Case in South Korea

Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence of households in South Korea that had experienced catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) and the impact of such expenditures on life satisfaction. Using data from the 2010 Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing, this study found that the poverty-national health insurance (NHI) group had the highest likelihood of having CHE but the effect on life satisfaction of having CHE varied among the household groups, mainly in terms of income level and type of medical benefit programs. Households in the poverty-NHI group exhibited much lower satisfaction compared to other groups when they experienced CHE. This study further showed that the harmful effect of facing CHE was confined not only to poor health outcomes or economic hardships but also extended to generally lower life satisfaction in the poverty-NHI group. These findings underscore the importance of providing an adequate financial safety net for the health care of households in the poverty-NHI group.

Keywords

Catastrophic health expenditure Life satisfaction Household income Medical benefit program 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Research Resettlement Fund for the new faculty of SNU.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of Consumer ScienceSeoul National UniversitySeoulSouth Korea
  2. 2.Department of Human Development and Family StudiesIowa State UniversityAmesUSA

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