Income-Based Inequalities in Health System Performance in the US and South Korea

How do income-related inequalities in health system performance differ between the US and South Korea?In this cross-sectional study of 224 168 US adults and 179 452 South Korean adults, higher-income adults had lower health care spending, greater preventive care use, greater access to care, fewer behavioral risk factors, and better self-reported health than lower-income adults in both countries. These inequalities were generally more pronounced in the US.The findings suggest that income is associated with disparities in health system performance in the US and South Korea, with larger differences by income in the US.

Corresponding Author: Sungchul Park, PhD, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management, College of Health Science, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 02841 (sungchul_park@korea.ac.kr).

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