Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries
Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays and restrictions in providing medical services. In response to the medical surge, countries with social insurance systems provided financial incentives to medical institutions. This study aimed to present the directions for health insurance...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Archives of Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-023-01209-w |
| _version_ | 1827635463979008000 |
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| author | Hey Jin Ko Eunji Yun Boryung Ahn Hyejin Lee Won Mo Jang Jin Yong Lee |
| author_facet | Hey Jin Ko Eunji Yun Boryung Ahn Hyejin Lee Won Mo Jang Jin Yong Lee |
| author_sort | Hey Jin Ko |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays and restrictions in providing medical services. In response to the medical surge, countries with social insurance systems provided financial incentives to medical institutions. This study aimed to present the directions for health insurance support by comparing countries in terms of the domains and contents of COVID-19 health insurance support to ensure timely support in case of future pandemics. Methods An analysis framework was developed to compare health insurance policy interventions for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 domains, and detailed policy interventions were divided into sub-domains (space, staff, and stuff) for each domain. Data were collected by country from the websites of the Ministry of Health and Social Insurers, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and were analyzed using qualitative comparative analysis. Results The countries provided comprehensive support for both the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 domains. In the COVID-19 domain, overall support was provided in all three sub-domains. Additional cost support was provided to prevent infection and provide secure facilities to treat confirmed patients. Outpatient services were mainly supported, and an intensive intervention was developed in the staff sub-domain for the non-COVID-19 domain. The point of policy intervention was the surge of the first confirmed case. Continuous revisions were subsequently made. The government provided financial support through health insurance. Conclusions Regarding where policy support through health insurance should be focused, the workload of medical personnel increased according to the change in the service provision environment due to the pandemic, and the medical service delivery system changed to prevent further infection. Consequently, incentives should be provided to aid the provision of stable services to patients and should be an auxiliary means to implement the national quarantine policy more effectively via a health insurance response system that promptly provides additional financial support in case of future crises. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:28:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-33a6146577dd4d37b3be300b816489ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2049-3258 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T15:28:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Archives of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-33a6146577dd4d37b3be300b816489ea2023-11-26T12:24:47ZengBMCArchives of Public Health2049-32582023-11-0181111610.1186/s13690-023-01209-wLessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countriesHey Jin Ko0Eunji Yun1Boryung Ahn2Hyejin Lee3Won Mo Jang4Jin Yong Lee5Human Resource Administration Department, Health Insurance Review & Assessment ServiceDivision of Pharmaceutical Policy Research, HIRA Research Institute, Health Insurance Review & Assessment ServiceDivision of Review and Assessment Research, HIRA Research Institute, Health Insurance Review & Assessment ServiceDepartment of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang HospitalDepartment of Public Health and Community Medicine, Seoul Metropolitan Government-Seoul National University Boramae Medical CenterDepartment of Health Policy and Management, Seoul National University College of MedicineAbstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays and restrictions in providing medical services. In response to the medical surge, countries with social insurance systems provided financial incentives to medical institutions. This study aimed to present the directions for health insurance support by comparing countries in terms of the domains and contents of COVID-19 health insurance support to ensure timely support in case of future pandemics. Methods An analysis framework was developed to compare health insurance policy interventions for COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 domains, and detailed policy interventions were divided into sub-domains (space, staff, and stuff) for each domain. Data were collected by country from the websites of the Ministry of Health and Social Insurers, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and were analyzed using qualitative comparative analysis. Results The countries provided comprehensive support for both the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 domains. In the COVID-19 domain, overall support was provided in all three sub-domains. Additional cost support was provided to prevent infection and provide secure facilities to treat confirmed patients. Outpatient services were mainly supported, and an intensive intervention was developed in the staff sub-domain for the non-COVID-19 domain. The point of policy intervention was the surge of the first confirmed case. Continuous revisions were subsequently made. The government provided financial support through health insurance. Conclusions Regarding where policy support through health insurance should be focused, the workload of medical personnel increased according to the change in the service provision environment due to the pandemic, and the medical service delivery system changed to prevent further infection. Consequently, incentives should be provided to aid the provision of stable services to patients and should be an auxiliary means to implement the national quarantine policy more effectively via a health insurance response system that promptly provides additional financial support in case of future crises.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-023-01209-wPandemicCOVID-19Health insuranceSurge capacity |
| spellingShingle | Hey Jin Ko Eunji Yun Boryung Ahn Hyejin Lee Won Mo Jang Jin Yong Lee Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries Archives of Public Health Pandemic COVID-19 Health insurance Surge capacity |
| title | Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries |
| title_full | Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries |
| title_fullStr | Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries |
| title_short | Lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting COVID-19: a qualitative comparative analysis of South Korea and three influential countries |
| title_sort | lessons from health insurance responses in counteracting covid 19 a qualitative comparative analysis of south korea and three influential countries |
| topic | Pandemic COVID-19 Health insurance Surge capacity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-023-01209-w |
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