ABSTRACT:
Background/Objectives: There is a growing need of hospice palliative care for noncancerous diseases. This study analyzed the medical utilization for non-cancer terminal patients during the last year of their lives. Methods/Statistical analysis: This is a cross-sectional study, analyzing the National Health Insurance data of one year before death. The death data of the National Statistical Office (NSO) merged to the data of National Health Insurance (NHI). The cause of death is classified into cancer and 12 non-cancer diseases. Medical expenses are divided into total medical expenses and insurer contribution. Findings: By the cause of death, the disease with the highest medical expense per patient was kidney disease, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) came second, followed by Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), cancer, Parkinson`s disease, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), stroke, liver disease, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), other lung disease, and dementia. On average the insurer contribution rate was 85.8% of the total medical expenses, but the rate of cancer and HIV covered by hospice palliative care was higher than the average. The disease with the highest out-pocket payment burden was dementia. Improvements/Applications: Considering the medical expenses of non-cancer terminal illness patients, the hospice palliative care should be extended to non-cancer patients as well as cancer patients in Korea.