These days in Korea, household burden on medical expenses is rapidly increasing while household income is decreasing due to economic stagnation. Medical expenses are one of the most essential and basic living expenses. It is not easy to cut down even if an income decreases. Therefore, more people in Korea who cannot hold the medical expenses become so-called Medi-poor.
According to the Bank of Korea, medical expenses of whole household expenses was 9 trillion and 250 billion won, which increased by 7.3 percent from last year(8 trillion and 620 billion won). It is the highest increasing rate after 9.4 percent in 2007. It is twice as much as 4 trillion and 750 billion won in 2002, indicating that a household spent 462,000 won last year.
The increasing rate in medical expenses is 3.8 times faster than that of household expenses, which is 1.9 percent. It is higher than food expenses (3.3 percent) and educational expenses(0.5 percent).
Korea’s fastest rate of aging in the world could be a result of the increasing medical expenses in Korea. It is true that medical cost is a great part of total expenses for the elder generation.
According to the National Statistical Office, health care expenses for people over their sixties take 10.9 percent of whole household expense. It is 1.7 times as much as that of people under their forties. A member of the National Assembly, Shin, said “ Korean medical demand for the old cannot help increasing with its structure.”
Constant increase in health insurance costs also contributed to high medical expenses. In this second-quarter, social insurance cost including health insurance went up 6.5 percent from the previous year.
A person in the Bank of Korea said “In economic stagnation, people can tighten their belts for other spending but medical one is hard to curtail to the last. Government should examine closely to prevent people’s living from breaking.”
The current trend of the Medi-poor’s advent would be a pressing matter in addition to other ‘Poors’(such as EDU-poor) and should be cared at once.
