An evaluation on the effect of the copayment waiver policy for Korean hospitalized children under the age of six

Table 1 Changes in medical utilization before and after ^a copayment waiver policy implementation

	Total patients <6 years of age	Total Inpatients <6 years of age	Average age	Inpatient days per case (n)	Hospital expenditure per case (USD)
	National Health Insurance Group (Total)
Before	429,666	535,129	1.86	6.37	709.32
After	699,254	891,278	1.28	5.96	644.67
Rate of Increase	62.7%	66.6%	-	−6.4%	−9.1%
	National Health Insurance Group(Industrial worker)
Before	273,194	336,335	1.82	6.25	706.45
After	480,739	603,284	1.24	5.85	635.40
Rate of Increase	76.0%	79.4%	-	−6.5%	−10.0%
	National Health Insurance Group(Self-employed)
Before	160251	198794	1.93	6.57	714.17
After	228610	287994	1.35	6.20	662.84
Rate of Increase	42.7%	44.9%	-	−5.6%	−7.2%
	Medical Aid Group
Before	7860	11852	3.71	13.48	2067.94
After	16616	25469	2.94	10.53	1452.53
Rate of Increase	111.4%	114.9%	-	−21.9%	−29.8%

ISSN: 1472-6963