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Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea

PURPOSE: As the recent term of “financial toxicity” implies, cancer causes a treatment-related financial harm. Financial Aid Program for Cancer Patient (FAPCP) is a government’s financial support for low-income patients in the Republic of Korea. This study aimed to describe FAPCP applicants’ conditi...

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Autores principales: Min, Hye Sook, Yang, Hyung Kook, Park, Keeho
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Korean Cancer Association 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6192922/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29141397
http://dx.doi.org/10.4143/crt.2017.401
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author Min, Hye Sook
Yang, Hyung Kook
Park, Keeho
author_facet Min, Hye Sook
Yang, Hyung Kook
Park, Keeho
author_sort Min, Hye Sook
collection PubMed
description PURPOSE: As the recent term of “financial toxicity” implies, cancer causes a treatment-related financial harm. Financial Aid Program for Cancer Patient (FAPCP) is a government’s financial support for low-income patients in the Republic of Korea. This study aimed to describe FAPCP applicants’ condition and to investigate factors influencing financial burden, which would provide the basis for implementing a strategy for FAPCP administration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The telephone survey results from 2,700 FAPCP participants were analyzed, including demographic, socioeconomic, and disease characteristics and experiences associated with financial burden and the actions or measures to cope with them. RESULTS: Overall, 87.6% experienced financial burden more than moderate degree, 39.2% got financial help/a loan, 17.8% disposed of their property, and 10.2% changed or stopped treatment owing to medical costs. Monthly household income was connected to financial burden, and the highest income group was associated with the lowest financial burden (odds ratio [OR], 0.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11 to 0.38) and the lowest rate of changing/stopping care (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.05 to 1.00). Parents of childhood cancer patients got financial help/a loan (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.03 to 4.88) and disposed of their property (OR, 3.18; 95% CI, 1.40 to 7.22) more frequently, and Medical Aids applicants showed the highest rate of changing/stopping care (OR, 3.01; 95% CI, 1.89 to 4.78). CONCLUSION: FAPCP targets low income groups; however, financial burden and the consequent actions taken still exist disproportionately, depending on the income of the applicants. FAPCP should focus on more vulnerable groups including Medical Aid applicants and parents of childhood cancer patients, by increasing funds and expanding their support coverage.
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spelling pubmed-61929222018-10-24 Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea Min, Hye Sook Yang, Hyung Kook Park, Keeho Cancer Res Treat Original Article PURPOSE: As the recent term of “financial toxicity” implies, cancer causes a treatment-related financial harm. Financial Aid Program for Cancer Patient (FAPCP) is a government’s financial support for low-income patients in the Republic of Korea. This study aimed to describe FAPCP applicants’ condition and to investigate factors influencing financial burden, which would provide the basis for implementing a strategy for FAPCP administration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The telephone survey results from 2,700 FAPCP participants were analyzed, including demographic, socioeconomic, and disease characteristics and experiences associated with financial burden and the actions or measures to cope with them. RESULTS: Overall, 87.6% experienced financial burden more than moderate degree, 39.2% got financial help/a loan, 17.8% disposed of their property, and 10.2% changed or stopped treatment owing to medical costs. Monthly household income was connected to financial burden, and the highest income group was associated with the lowest financial burden (odds ratio [OR], 0.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.11 to 0.38) and the lowest rate of changing/stopping care (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.05 to 1.00). Parents of childhood cancer patients got financial help/a loan (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.03 to 4.88) and disposed of their property (OR, 3.18; 95% CI, 1.40 to 7.22) more frequently, and Medical Aids applicants showed the highest rate of changing/stopping care (OR, 3.01; 95% CI, 1.89 to 4.78). CONCLUSION: FAPCP targets low income groups; however, financial burden and the consequent actions taken still exist disproportionately, depending on the income of the applicants. FAPCP should focus on more vulnerable groups including Medical Aid applicants and parents of childhood cancer patients, by increasing funds and expanding their support coverage. Korean Cancer Association 2018-10 2017-11-15 /pmc/articles/PMC6192922/ /pubmed/29141397 http://dx.doi.org/10.4143/crt.2017.401 Text en Copyright © 2018 by the Korean Cancer Association This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Min, Hye Sook
Yang, Hyung Kook
Park, Keeho
Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea
title Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea
title_full Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea
title_fullStr Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea
title_full_unstemmed Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea
title_short Supporting Low-income Cancer Patients: Recommendations for the Public Financial Aid Program in the Republic of Korea
title_sort supporting low-income cancer patients: recommendations for the public financial aid program in the republic of korea
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6192922/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29141397
http://dx.doi.org/10.4143/crt.2017.401
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