Koreans spend W12m a year before death

Koreans spend more than 12 million won ($10,430) on medical treatments in their last year of life, a national research center reported Monday.

According to a study of 209,004 subscribers who died in 2010 by Health Insurance Policy Research Institute, a think tank under the National Health Insurance Corporation, men spend an average of 12.8 million won in medical fees in the year before their death. Women spend 12.1 million won during the same period.

Teens spend the highest amount of 17.8 million won followed by those in their 60s, 50s and 70s, respectively. The younger demographics generally suffered from congenital or hard-to-cure diseases which require expensive treatments.

“As medical technology is improving every day, life expectancy has extended. It means many people get sick before they die rather than staying healthy and dying suddenly when young,” the report noted, calling for the expansion of hospice system and monitoring of medical services for terminally ill patients.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)