Macroeconomic Consequences of Publicly Provided Health Insurance: The South Korean Context

Abstract

This dissertation studies the macroeconomic effects of providing public universal health insurance in South Korea. Since its inception in 1989, the South Korean government has increased the public health insurance benefit rate by reducing the co-pay rates and out-of-pocket medical expenditures. Such a policy change has improved the access to health care for the elderly and poor who would have otherwise opted out of medical consumption. I explore this link between medical consumption and health outcomes from the macroeconomic standpoint.