미국 Medigap의 발달과 민간의료보험의 활용문제에 대한 정책적 함의 = Development of Medigap in the United States and Policy Implications for an Utilization of Private Health Insurance in Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

As policy debates on private health insurance have been recently intensified in Korea, this paper intends to analyze Medigap in the United States, and to draws useful policy implications for an utilization of private health insurance in Korea. Medigap is a private health insurance that has been used to supplement the deficiency of Medicare, social health insurance, thereby allowing its recipients to have a more comprehensive health service in the US. Nevertheless. Medigap had been under harsh criticism for several reasons such as overuse of risk selection and inequity in its utilization. In response to these limitations. US government has implemented simplification of Medigap plans, open enrollment measure. Medicare Savings Programs and so on. In addition, this paper addresses the effects of Medigap on Medicare, and finds that Medigap has augmented the financial burden of Medicare, while weakening the political supports for improving Medicare. Based on these results, this paper emphasizes that on the contrary to expectation of Korean government and its advocates, supplemental private health insurance would render negative impacts on National Health Insurance in Korea. Rather than promoting supplemental private health insurance, therefore, Korean government should prepare for the policy measures aimed to minimize its defects in view of the preceding experiences of Medigap in the US.