Abstract:
This thesis studies the impact of life-threatening illnesses on individuals’ health insurance
choice. After experiencing health shock, an individual makes both immediate
and long-term adjustments to insurance decisions. The study uses the data from The
Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) conducted between 2006 and 2018.
The main empirical approach used in this thesis is the system GMM model, which
is a combination of differenced and level equations. The number of insurance plans,
the insurance premium, and total medical expenses are the main variables of interest.
This study finds that individuals diagnosed with life-threatening diseases increase
the number of private insurance options, experiencing a sharp increase in medical expenses.
In the long-term, the medical expenditures stabilize over time and the effect
of shock on the number of insurance plans and total premium gradually decreases.