IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v36y2015i3p369-382.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • So-Yun Kim
  • Gong-Soog Hong

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. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • So-Yun Kim & Gong-Soog Hong, 2015. "Catastrophic Health Expenditures and Life Satisfaction: A Case in South Korea," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 369-382, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:36:y:2015:i:3:p:369-382
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-015-9459-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10834-015-9459-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10834-015-9459-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yardim, Mahmut Saadi & Cilingiroglu, Nesrin & Yardim, Nazan, 2010. "Catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment in Turkey," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 26-33, January.
    2. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being and Income: Is There Any Evidence of Satiation?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 598-604, May.
    3. Angus Deaton, 2008. "Income, Health, and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 53-72, Spring.
    4. Bruce Headey & Mark Wooden, 2004. "The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well‐Being and Ill‐Being," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 80(s1), pages 24-33, September.
    5. Oswald, Andrew J, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1815-1831, November.
    6. Sacks, Daniel W. & Stevenson, Betsey & Wolfers, Justin, 2012. "The New Stylized Facts about Income and Subjective Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 7105, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    8. Ruut Veenhoven, 1991. "Is happiness relative?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-34, February.
    9. Rongwei Chu & Henry Hail, 2014. "Winding Road Toward the Chinese Dream: The U-shaped Relationship Between Income and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Migrant Workers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 235-246, August.
    10. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
    11. Whitney Witt & Kristin Litzelman & Carmen Mandic & Lauren Wisk & John Hampton & Paul Creswell & Carissa Gottlieb & Ronald Gangnon, 2011. "Healthcare-Related Financial Burden Among Families in the U.S.: The Role of Childhood Activity Limitations and Income," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 308-326, June.
    12. Paul Frijters & John P. Haisken-DeNew & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Money Does Matter! Evidence from Increasing Real Income and Life Satisfaction in East Germany Following Reunification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 730-740, June.
    13. Adam Wagstaff & Eddy van Doorslaer, 2003. "Catastrophe and impoverishment in paying for health care: with applications to Vietnam 1993–1998," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(11), pages 921-933, November.
    14. Catherine Stein & Erica Hoffmann & Erin Bonar & Jaclyn Leith & Kristen Abraham & Alexis Hamill & Shane Kraus & Shinakee Gumber & Wendy Fogo, 2013. "The United States Economic Crisis: Young Adults’ Reports of Economic Pressures, Financial and Religious Coping and Psychological Well-Being," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 200-210, June.
    15. Hacer Özgen Narcı & İsmet Şahin & Hasan Yıldırım, 2015. "Financial catastrophe and poverty impacts of out-of-pocket health payments in Turkey," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 16(3), pages 255-270, April.
    16. Kim, Younhee & Yang, Bongmin, 2011. "Relationship between catastrophic health expenditures and household incomes and expenditure patterns in South Korea," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(2-3), pages 239-246, May.
    17. Kim, Younhee & Yang, Bongmin, 2011. "Relationship between catastrophic health expenditures and household incomes and expenditure patterns in South Korea," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 239-246.
    18. Yoko Mimura, 2014. "The Relationship Between Life Satisfaction Among Wives and Financial Preparedness of Households in Japan," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 532-541, December.
    19. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    20. Chang-Keun Han & Song-Iee Hong, 2011. "Assets and Life Satisfaction Patterns Among Korean Older Adults: Latent Class Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 100(2), pages 225-240, January.
    21. Bowling, Ann, 1990. "Associations with life satisfaction among very elderly people living in a deprived part of inner London," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 31(9), pages 1003-1011, January.
    22. Saboori, Behnaz & Sapri, Maimunah & bin Baba, Maizan, 2014. "Economic growth, energy consumption and CO2 emissions in OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)'s transport sector: A fully modified bi-directional relationship approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 150-161.
    23. Eddy van Doorslaer & Owen O'Donnell & Ravindra P. Rannan-Eliya & Aparnaa Somanathan & Shiva Raj Adhikari & Charu C. Garg & Deni Harbianto & Alejandro N. Herrin & Mohammed Nazmul Huq & Shamsia Ibragimo, 2007. "Catastrophic payments for health care in Asia," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(11), pages 1159-1184.
    24. David A. Chiriboga & Sandra A. Black & Maria Aranda & Kyriakos Markides, 2002. "Stress and Depressive Symptoms Among Mexican American Elders," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 57(6), pages 559-568.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. JeongHee Yeo & Yoon G. Lee, 2019. "Understanding the Association Between Perceived Financial Well-Being and Life Satisfaction Among Older Adults: Does Social Capital Play a Role?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 592-608, December.
    2. Swarn Chatterjee & Lu Fan & Soomin Ryu & Jinhee Kim, 2021. "A Decade Review of Asian Studies in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues from 2010 to 2019," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 178-194, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Voerman-Tam, Diana & Grimes, Arthur & Watson, Nicholas, 2023. "The economics of free speech: Subjective wellbeing and empowerment of marginalized citizens," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 260-274.
    2. Fengyu Wu, 2020. "An Examination of the Effects of Consumption Expenditures on Life Satisfaction in Australia," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(8), pages 2735-2771, December.
    3. Olivia S. Jin & Phanindra V. Wunnava, 2023. "“Feeling richer and happier? The effect of self-perceived economic welfare on life satisfaction: longitudinal evidence from a transition economy”," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Andrew E. Clark, 2018. "Four Decades of the Economics of Happiness: Where Next?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 245-269, June.
    5. Beja Jr, Edsel, 2013. "Does economic prosperity bring about a happier society? Mathematical remarks on the Easterlin Paradox debate," MPRA Paper 48229, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & George Ward & Femke De Keulenaer & Bert Van Landeghem & Georgios Kavetsos & Michael I. Norton, 2018. "The Asymmetric Experience of Positive and Negative Economic Growth: Global Evidence Using Subjective Well-Being Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 362-375, May.
    7. Luca Stanca, 2010. "The Geography of Economics and Happiness: Spatial Patterns in the Effects of Economic Conditions on Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 99(1), pages 115-133, October.
    8. Brown, Sarah & Taylor, Karl & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2005. "Debt and distress: Evaluating the psychological cost of credit," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 642-663, October.
    9. Tekleselassie, Tsegay Gebrekidan, 2016. "Three essays on the impact of institutions and policies on socio-economic outcomes," Economics PhD Theses 1316, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    10. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2004. "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(3), pages 393-415, October.
    11. Roberta Distante, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being, Income and Relative Concerns in the UK," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 81-105, August.
    12. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields, 2006. "Income and happiness: Evidence, explanations and economic implications," PSE Working Papers halshs-00590436, HAL.
    13. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    14. Ebrahim, Amina, 2010. "The Determinants Of Happiness Among Race Groups In South Africa," Honours Students' Projects 107588, Rhodes University, Department of Economics and Economic History.
    15. Antje Mertens & Miriam Beblo, 2016. "Self-Reported Satisfaction and the Economic Crisis of 2007–2010: Or How People in the UK and Germany Perceive a Severe Cyclical Downturn," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 537-565, January.
    16. Kundu, Srikanta & Kundu, Ruma & Chettri, Kul Bahadur, 2024. "Asymmetric effects of democracy and macroeconomic factors on happiness under high and low per capita incomes: A threshold panel analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    17. Pervin Ahu Cerci & Devrim Dumludag, 2019. "Life Satisfaction and Job Satisfaction among University Faculty: The Impact of Working Conditions, Academic Performance and Relative Income," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(2), pages 785-806, July.
    18. Lars Kunze & Nicolai Suppa, 2014. "Bowling Alone or Bowling at All? The Effect of Unemployment on Social Participation," Ruhr Economic Papers 0510, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    19. Alpaslan Akay & Olivier Bargain & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2017. "Home Sweet Home?: Macroeconomic Conditions in Home Countries and the Well-Being of Migrants," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(2), pages 351-373.
    20. Bernhard Christoph, 2010. "The Relation Between Life Satisfaction and the Material Situation: A Re-Evaluation Using Alternative Measures," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 98(3), pages 475-499, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:36:y:2015:i:3:p:369-382. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.