Death Toll of Males in Their 40s, 50s Three Times Higher Than That of Females

The death toll of male health insurance holders in their 40s-50s was three times higher than that of females in the same age group.

The National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) announced yesterday that it paid the funeral cost (250,000 won) to 193,985 insurance holders from the health insurance fund last year, and the male constituted the 55.4 percent of the total paid insurance holders.

In particular, the death toll of males in their 40s-50s reached 27,395, 2.8 times over the death toll of females (9,832) in the same age group.

And the death toll of males in their 30s, for whom the funeral costs were paid, reached 5,000, 2.2 times higher than that of females in their 30s (2,295). The death toll of males in their 60s male deaths marked 26,450, about two times higher than that of females in their 60s (12,975).

On the other hand, for the over-70 old people, the death toll of females (58,575) was even higher than that of males (43,737).

An official of the NHIC said that since the health insurance law specified not to pay the funeral cost to the persons under medical protection, the traffic accident victims and industrial disaster victims, these statistical figures were different from the last year`s total death statistics (247,346). But it showed that the death rate of males in their 40s-50s were very high.

Meanwhile, among the health insurance holders for whom the funeral costs were paid, the 88.3 percent used the medical institution more than once for one year before their death, and the 59.4 percent had been hospitalized. The medical cost amounted to 6.18 million won per person (except special inspection cost).

Jung Young-Gwan yongari@donga.com