The global financial crisis of 2008 has led to the reinforcement of patient cost sharing in health care policy. This study aimed to explore the impact of direct out-of pocket payments (OOPs) on health care utilization and the resulting financial burden across income groups under the South Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) program with universal population coverage. We used the fourth Korea...

This paper offers a critical appraisal of the various methods used to date to investigate inequity in the delivery of health care. It concludes that none of the methods used to date is particularly well equipped to provide unbiassed estimates of the extent of inequity. It also concludes that Le Grand's (1978) approach is likely to point towards inequity favouring the rich even when none exists....

One of the major obstacles in the process of national development, is the disruption in regional balance construct. As has been noted in some studies the existence of regional inequity leads to domination of some regions to surrounding regions and causing political and economic challenges in developing countries. And given that transportation is one of the components of region, undoubtedly equi...

Access to healthcare is inequitably distributed across different socioeconomic groups. Several vulnerable groups experience barriers in accessing healthcare, compared to their more wealthier counterparts. In response to this, many countries use resources to strengthen their primary care (PC) system, because in many European countries PC is the first entry-point to the healthcare system and play...

For over 30 years, Canadian provinces have provided universal public insurance for hospital and physician care; however, evidence points to persisting socio-economic inequity in healthcare use. Because provinces hold the responsibility for planning and funding most publicly insured health services, there is some variation in health system characteristics. In the context of such variation, this ...