Universal health insurance, health inequality and oral cancer in Taiwan

The introduction of universal health insurance coverage aims to provide equal accessibility and affordability of health care, but whether such a policy eliminates health inequalities has not been conclusively determined. This research aims to examine the healthcare outcomes of oral cancer and determ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2018-10, Vol.13 (10), p.e0205731-e0205731
Main Authors: Wang, Fuhmei, Wang, Jung-Der, Hung, Yu-Wen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Biology and Life Sciences
Cancer
Disadvantaged groups
Health care
Health care disparities
Health disparities
Health insurance
Health risk assessment
Incidence
Income
Insurance
Insurance coverage
Life expectancy
Life span
Medical diagnosis
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mouth cancer
Oral cancer
Oral squamous cell carcinoma
Patient outcomes
Patients
People and Places
Physical Sciences
Risk factors
Social Sciences
Squamous cell carcinoma
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Summary:The introduction of universal health insurance coverage aims to provide equal accessibility and affordability of health care, but whether such a policy eliminates health inequalities has not been conclusively determined. This research aims to examine the healthcare outcomes of oral cancer and determine whether the universal coverage system in Taiwan has reduced health inequality. Linking the databases of the National Cancer Registry with the National Mortality Registry in Taiwan, we stratified patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma by gender and income to estimate the incidence rate, cumulative incidence rate aged from 20 to 79 (CIR20-79), life expectancy, and expected years of life lost (EYLL). The difficulties with asymmetries and short follow-up periods were resolved through applying survival analysis extrapolation methods. While all people showed a general improvement in life expectancy after the introduction of the NHI, the estimated change in EYLL's of the high-, middle-, and low-income female patients were found to have +0.3, -0.5 and -7 years of EYLL, respectively, indicating a reduction in health inequality. Improvements for the male patients were unremarkable. There was no drop in the CIR20-79 of oral cancer in disadvantaged groups as in those with higher incomes. Universal coverage alone may not reduce health inequality across different income groups for oral cancer unless effective preventive measures are implemented for economically disadvantaged regions.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0205731