우리나라 생애의료비 추정 및 특성 분석

Abstract

Objectives: This study estimates the scale of medical expenses that individuals spend throughout their lives, the behavior of medical use, and the scale of medical expenses for major diseases. Methods: The research data applied the 2021 life table and health insurance statistics medical expense data, and the non-payment rate of health insurance patient medical expense survey was applied in a limited way. The research method generates virtual peo- ple (100,000) who apply the survival probability at each age, and estimates the lifetime medical expenses that individuals spend throughout their lives by fixing other variables (medical technology, medical service price, prevalence, treatment effect, disease death, etc.) other than age. Results: The main research results of this study are as follows. First, the per capita lifetime medical expenses in Korea are 185.42 million won for men and 223.07 million won for women in 2021, and the per capita lifetime medical expenses for survivors are 237.59 million won for men and 250.47 million won for women. The result of correcting the male lifetime medical expenses for the difference in life expectancy between men and women is 214.32 million won. Second, medical expenses by life cycle stages are concentrated in the elderly population over 65 years old, where more than 50% of lifetime medical expenses are spent. After 65 years old, men spend 52.6% and women spend 53%. The distribution of medical expenses for survivors only spends 61.8% for men and 57.4% for women after 65 years old. Third, among the five major diseases (malignant neoplasms, heart, cerebrovascular, diabetes, hypertension), the disease with the highest per capita lifetime medical expenses and per capita lifetime medical expenses for survivors is malignant neoplasms (19,374,000 won), followed by hypertensive diseases (9,345,000 won), cerebrovascular diseases (9,093,000 won), diabetes (6,914,000 won), and heart diseases (4,592,000 won). The relative lifetime medical expenses over 80% after 65 years old are cerebrovascular diseases, and other diseases also spend more than 60% of medical expenses after 65 years old. Conclusions: Through this study, it was confirmed that age is an important factor that affects medical expenses, and it suggests the necessity of a prevention-centered policy and the construction of a medical safety net at the community level for the elderly, where more than half of the lifetime medical expenses are concentrated.