scholarly journals Comparison of Catastrophic Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenditures in the US and South Korea

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 831-832
Author(s):  
Narae Kim ◽  
Mireille Jacobson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Health Care Expenditure ◽  
The United States ◽  
High Income ◽  
Medical Expenditure ◽  
System Level ◽  
Medical Spending ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Us

Abstract To date, relatively few studies have examined catastrophic out-of-pocket medical spending in the United States, especially in comparison to other high-income countries. We compared catastrophic out-of-pocket medical spending among adults age 65 and older in the United States versus South Korea, a high-income country with national health insurance that is often overlooked in cross-country comparisons. We defined catastrophic medical spending as health care expenditure for the past two years that exceeds 50% of one’s annual household income. Using data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA), we performed a logistic regression to examine the factors affecting catastrophic out-of-pocket medical spending for older adults in both countries. We also performed a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to compare the contribution of demographics factors versus health system-level factors to catastrophic out-of-pocket medical spending. The proportion of respondents with catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenditure was higher in the US; the proportion was 5.8% and 3.0% in the US and South Korea, respectively. Both in the US and South Korea, respondents who were in the lower-income quartiles, who had experienced a stroke or had diabetes, and who rated their health as poor had higher odds of catastrophic out-of-pocket medical expenditure. The Blinder-Oaxaca non-linear decomposition showed that the significant difference in the rate of catastrophic out-of-pocket medical spending between the two countries was attributable to unobservable system-level factors, not observed differences in the sociodemographic characteristics between the two countries.

Trump may destabilise Korean Peninsula

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Korean Peninsula ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
North And South ◽  
Trump Administration

Subject US relations with North and South Korea under the incoming Trump administration. Significance The period of transition to Donald Trump's presidency in the United States has displayed neglect and misunderstanding of Korean peninsula affairs, adding to risks for the region as it approaches a period of significant strategic challenge. Impacts Until Trump's team enunciates policy on the Koreas, responses to events will be unprepared and reactive. Trump's policy will influence presidential elections in South Korea, where left-of-centre candidates question the value of the US alliance. The Trump administration’s policy and communication via Twitter heightens risk of misunderstanding within the region.

scholarly journals The Use of Digital Tools to Mitigate the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparative Retrospective Study of Six Countries

10.2196/24598 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. e24598
Author(s):  
Kylie Zeng ◽  
Stephanie N Bernardo ◽  
Weldon E Havins
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Transmission Rate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Border Control ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Containment Measures

Background Since the COVID-19 outbreak began in Wuhan, China, countries worldwide have been forced to take unprecedented measures to combat it. While some countries are still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, others have fared better and have re-established relative normalcy quickly. The rapid transmission rate of the virus has shown a greater need for efficient and technologically modern containment measures. The use of digital tools to facilitate strict containment measures in countries that have fared well against the COVID-19 pandemic has sparked both interest and controversy. Objective In this study, we compare the precautions taken against the spread of COVID-19 in the United States, Spain, and Italy, with Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, particularly related to the use of digital tools for contact tracing, and propose policies that could be used in the United States for future COVID-19 waves or pandemics. Methods COVID-19 death rate data were obtained from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), accessed through the Our World in Data database, and were evaluated based on population size per 100,000 people from December 31, 2019, to September 6, 2020. All policies and measures enacted were obtained from their respective governmental websites. Results We found a strong association between lower death rates per capita and countries that implemented early mask use and strict border control measures that included mandatory quarantine using digital tools. There is a significant difference in the number of deaths per 100,000 when comparing Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore with the United States, Spain, and Italy. Conclusions Based on our research, it is evident that early intervention with the use of digital tools had a strong correlation with the successful containment of COVID-19. Infection rates and subsequent deaths in Italy, Spain, and the United States could have been much lower with early mask use and, more importantly, timely border control measures using modern digital tools. Thus, we propose that the United States execute the following national policies should a public health emergency be declared: (1) immediately establish a National Command responsible for enacting strict mandatory guidelines enforced by federal and state governments, including national mask use; (2) mandate civilian cooperation with health officials in contact tracing and quarantine orders; and (3) require incoming travelers to the United States and those quarantined to download a contact tracing app. We acknowledge the countries we studied differ in their cultures, political systems, and reporting criteria for COVID-19 deaths. Further research may need to be conducted to address these limitations; however, we believe that the proposed policies could protect the American public.

Tokyo faces new challenges in US relations under Biden

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
State Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Us ◽  
New Challenges

Significance Presumptive presidential election winner Joe Biden is reputed not to have trusted Suga’s predecessor, while Democratic governments in general are seen in Tokyo as giving Japan a low priority. Impacts A US return to multilateralism will begin to rebuild Japan’s diminished respect for the United States. East Asia specialists may return to the US State Department, making for better informed and probably more consistent policy towards Japan. Talks on repairing Japan-South Korea relations are reportedly underway behind the scenes; a creative solution may be found. Together with European partners, Japan and the United States would make a powerful alliance at the COP26 climate talks in November 2021.

Genomic profile of gastric cancer in the United States versus East Asia.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. 45-45
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Gilmore ◽  
Mohamad Barakat ◽  
Uzair Bashir Chaudhary ◽  
Jeffrey P. Gregg ◽  
Amir Fathi
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gastric Cancer ◽  
Tumor Biology ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Cancer Genome Atlas ◽  
Cancer Type ◽  
Asian Ethnicity ◽  
Recurrent Mutations ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Us

45 Background: Gastric cancer is the fourth most common cancer type and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Much heterogenicity exists in gastric cancer including geographic variation, with significantly higher incidence in Eastern Asia and a well-known but poorly understood relationship with Asian ethnicity. It has thus been hypothesized that differences in incidence and survival between United States and Asia may be related to a difference in the underlying tumor biology. Methods: We sought to compare the mutational frequencies by comparison of proportions of the 25 most frequent mutations between a US and Chinese population. The US population was derived from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) PanCancer Atlas comprising 440 patients and the Chinese from a University of Hong Kong Study comprising 100 patients. Results: We found there was a statistically significant difference (P ≤ 0.05) in the frequency of recurrent mutations between US and China population in 14 of the 25 most common genes mutations (table). Conclusions: This data suggests an underlying difference in the mutational profile of gastric cancers in the US as compared with Asia. These findings thus may help to describe the differences in incidence, histology, and outcomes that has been well described in the literature between these two regions of the world. [Table: see text]

scholarly journals Are Gritty People Happier than Others?: Evidence from the United States and South Korea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye Won Kwon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Sense Of Control ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Life Outcomes ◽  
Psychological Measures ◽  
The Us

AbstractGrit, which refers to perseverance and passion to pursue long-term goals, has been highlighted as a predictor of better life outcomes, including subjective well-being. For grit to be useful for well-being research, we need to know more about its properties across cultures and determine whether it has a relationship to well-being outcomes beyond other existing psychological measures. Using survey data from the United States and South Korea (N = 1008), this study examines the measurement of grit across cultures as having two dimensions: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest. It then explores the distinctive utility of grit in explaining an individual’s subjective well-being beyond well-established psychological measures such as conscientiousness and sense of control. The results show that gritty people report better subjective well-being; this positive relationship between grit and subjective well-being is largely driven by the perseverance dimension of grit. This dimension accounts for a unique variance in subjective well-being beyond the sense of control in both country samples and variance beyond conscientiousness in the US sample. By contrast, the consistency dimension of grit adds little to our understanding of subjective well-being in either country. Relying on the global grit score, which aggregates the scores of the two dimensions, may obscure the unique role of the perseverance dimension in understanding subjective well-being.

South Korea’s Strategic Options amid the US–China Strategic Competition Under the Biden Administration

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (02) ◽  
pp. 49-66
Author(s):  
Hahnkyu PARK ◽  
Chun Hee YANG
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Hedging Strategy ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Strategic Competition ◽  
Practical Strategy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Rational Calculation

South Korea has so far maintained a “double hedging” strategy—that is, the United States for security, China for economy—in managing its relations with the United States and China. Both Washington and Beijing are recently increasing their pressures on Seoul to join their side, respectively. South Korea needs to re-evaluate its current strategy and adopt a more practical strategy based upon rational calculation of national interests rather than upon political leaders’ ideological beliefs or domestic political considerations.

Korea

2020 ◽  
pp. 142-180
Author(s):  
Francine R. Frankel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
United Nations ◽  
North Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
Great Power ◽  
Nuclear Age ◽  
The Us ◽  
Geneva Conference ◽  
The Way

North Korea’s attack against South Korea evoked an immediate military response from the United States, under a UN command, to draw the line against communist expansion in Asia. Once the Chinese entered the war on the side of North Korea, India could not sustain its policy of nonalignment on the merits but began to practice nonalignment as an informal version of neutrality justified as its commitment to seek peace in the nuclear age. When Mao prolonged the war in an effort to win total victory and force the United States out of Asia, India’s bias toward China in the United Nations met with the US decision to exclude India from the Geneva Conference on Korea and Indo-China, paving the way for China to assert its position as a great power.

United States Korean Policy and World Order

1980 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel S. Kim
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
World Order ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Repressive Regime

The role of the United States in South Korea traditionally viewed as one of peacemaking and stabilizing force in a volatile region of Asia, when scrutinized from a normative perspective (using the world order values of peace, economic well-being and social justice), makes it clear that past and present US support for the Republic of Korea (ROK) has served precisely the opposite purpose. By channeling massive amounts of military and economic aid into South Korea, and by stationing troops there, the US has helped frustrate the goal of unification and preserved the corrupt and repressive regime of President Park Chung Hee. US encouragement of Japanese investment in South Korea has resulted in a classic case of economic dependency: unfavorable balance of trade and growth without development. The paper comes to the conclusion that as long as the US persists in maintaining its presence in Korea and its anachronistic global perceptions, American foreign policy cannot hope to serve human needs or further a just and peaceful world order.

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