Assessing Healthcare Expenditures of the Residents of Bangladesh and the Non-Resident Bangladeshis Living in South Korea: A Comparative Study

Dr. Most. Sabiha Sultana

Oct-Nov-Dec

Abstract
If health care spending exceeds a predetermined threshold relative to their ability to pay, households can face financial hardship. This study compares the burden of health care expenditure between Bangladeshi residents and non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) living in South Korea. Respondents from Bangladesh were mostly male, married, and had low levels of education. Many were daily laborers or housewives and had annual incomes below BDT 200,000. By contrast, the Bangladeshi non-resident sample in South Korea consisted mostly of young males, most of whom earned more than BDT 300,000 annually, worked in service-related occupations, and had relatively high levels of education. The study finds that residents of Bangladesh had higher annual health expenditures. By comparison, most Bangladeshi non-residents in South Korea fell into the low-expenditure category. Health insurance coverage differed significantly between residents and non-residents. Furthermore, the relative expenditure burden (i.e., spending at least 10% of income on health care) was significantly higher among residents (59.2%) than among non-residents (2.9%). Among residents, annual health expenditure categories varied significantly by respondents’ educational attainment, occupational status, and annual income. Another finding indicated that annual health expenditures among non-residents were not significantly associated with the socio-demographic and socio-economic characteristics examined in this study. The study highlights the need to expand affordable health care financing and insurance coverage to alleviate the substantial burden of out-of-pocket (OOP) health care expenditures among residents of Bangladesh compared with Bangladeshi non-residents residing in South Korea.

Keyword: Healthcare expenditure, Residents, Non-Residents, Bangladesh, South Korea

Research Area: Economics

Country: Bangladesh

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