The Financial Burden Associated with Medical Costs among Childhood Cancer Patients and Their Families Related to Their Socioeconomic Status: The Perspective of National Health Insurance Service

Abstract

The number of cancer survivors is increasing as a consequence of improved therapeutic options. Many families are suffering from the resultant financial burden. Our study aims to determine the total medical cost for 5 years after the initial diagnosis of childhood cancers. A customized dataset from the Korean National Health Insurance Claims Database was requested for this study. A total of 7317 patients were selected to determine the total medical cost. The costs are presented as the 2% trimmed mean value to exclude extreme costs. The medical costs were further classified according to cancer type, treatment phase, and socioeconomic status. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed. The average total medical cost per patient is 36.8 million Korean Wons or 32,157 United States Dollars. Analysis of socioeconomic status revealed that the higher income group demonstrated higher medical expenditure when compared to other groups. Analysis of the treatment phase showed that costs associated with the early phase of treatment are the highest, especially in the first 3 months after initial diagnosis. To alleviate the financial burden and reduce the socioeconomic disparities associated with medical care and costs, a better understanding of the current experience of patients and their families is required.

Keywords: Korea; childhood cancer; financial burden; medical cost; national health insurance; socioeconomic status.

Figure 1

Medical costs of childhood cancer survivor by socioeconomic status in each treatment phase cost and cumulative cost ^†. † Presented in KRW (Approx. KRW 1140.40 = USD 1 on average, year 2015).