SEOUL, KOREA - A study said the average lifetime medical expense for a man is in excess of 100 million won. The comparable amount for women is about 20 percent more than that of men.

 

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute said on November 28 in a report on lifetime healthcare expense that the amount spent by men in their lifetime on healthcare cost was 101.77 million won as of 2011. The same amount for women was 123.32 million won as the female life expectancy is longer by about five years.

 

The figures for 2010 were 95.89 million won and 114.30 million won, respectively. Lim Dal-oh, head of the Center for Korea Health Industry Statistics System, said, "Comparing to the expenses in 2007, the 2011 amount is 37.2 percent and 40.3 percent higher for men and women."

 

The report also said that more than a half of the lifetime healthcare expense is spent after 65 years of age. Men spend 50.5 percent (51.37 million won) of expense after 65 while the comparable figure for women is 55.5 percent (68.41 million won).

 

The single most expensive disease is cancer and hypertension for men and women, respectively, with average per-capita cost estimated at 11.21 million won and 8.57 million won. The most costly cancers for men include lung cancer, colon cancer, and stomach cancer. For women, it is in the order of breast cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer.