◈ 의료이용의 형평성 분석방법에 대한 고찰 ◈ 국내외 의료이용 형평성 연구 결과에 대한 정리 ◈ 국민건강영양조사 등 최신의 자료를 활용한 연령계급에 따른 인구집단별로 소득계층간 의료이용의 형평성 정도 분석 ◈ 연령계급에 따른 인구집단별로 의료이용 형평성 정도에 영향을 미치는 요인별 기여도 분석 ◈ 각 인구집단의 의료이용 형평성 현황 파악 및 이에 영향을 미치는 요인들을 파악하여 이에 대한 정책대안 제언
The evidence of the socioeconomic gradient in health has been well documented in many countries. Various mechanisms of socioeconomic gradient in health have been proposed. For example, unhealthy behavior such as smoking, poor diet, and physical inactivity are more prevalent in lower socioeconomic groups and the propensity to utilize health care services is more prevalent among higher socioeconomic groups. Financial barriers, moreover, to health care services may increase existing socioeconomic disparities in health because the inability of lower socioeconomic groups to purchase costly health services or insurance may prevent them from accessing care. Accessibility to health care may imply the opportunity for those in need to access health care services irrespective of their ability to pay for health care and it is important to monitor inequalities in health care utilization among socioeconomic groups because the income-inequalities in health care utilization can cause or reinforce socioeconomic gradient in health. This study aims to: 1) measure degrees of horizontal equity in health care utilization in order to ascertain whether the equal treatment for equal need principle was met; 2) decompose the inequalities in health care utilization in order to identify the relative degree to which various factors contributed to income-related inequalities in health care utilization in Korea. This study showed that there are pro-poor inequities in health care utilization and pro-rich inequities in the health care payment in Korea.
