Unmet healthcare is an important indicator to measure accessibility of healthcare services. To examine the latest status of unmet healthcare needs in South Korea, four different data which is composed of nationally representative sample of South Korean population were used; the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2007–2020), the Community Health Survey (CHS, 2008–2020), the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2011–2018), and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2006– 2020). The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs were 6.4% (KNHANES), 5.4% (CHS), and 12.2% (KHP). Annual percentage change (APC) which identifies trend for the follow-up period was -9.9%, -9.1%, and -5.5%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost were 1.0% (KNHANES), 0.4% (CHS), 2.2% (KHP), and 0.4% (KOWEPS). The APC was -11.3%, -17.0%, -12.2%, and -21.2%, respectively. Overall, the low-income and the elderly population reported a higher rate of unmet health care needs. Although the overall experience rate of unmet medical care due to cost decreased over the past decade, the disparity between the lowest and highest income groups still remained in 2020. Disparity between income levels and age groups is a challenge to address in healthcare system, and these results suggest the need for adequate health coverage for the low-income and the elderly populations.

Unmet healthcare is an important indicator to measure accessibility of healthcare services. To examine the latest status of unmet healthcare needs in South Korea, the four different data which is composed of nationally representative sample of South Korean population were used; the Korea Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNAHANES, 2007–2019), the Community Health Survey (CHS, 2008–2019), the Korea Health Panel Survey (KHP, 2011–2017), and the Korean Welfare Panel Study (KOWEPS, 2006–2019). The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs were 5.8% (KNHANES), 5.3% (CHS), and 11.6% (KHP). Annual percentage change (APC) which identifies trend for the follow-up period was -9.5%, -8.0%, and -6.5%, respectively. The proportion of individuals reporting unmet healthcare needs due to cost were 1.1% (KNAHANES), 0.7% (CHS), 2.4% (KHP), and 0.4% (KOWEPS). The APC was -10.5%, -14.2%, -12.2%, and -19.6%, respectively. Compared to last year, the rate of unmet healthcare needs has declined in general.However, the low-income and the elderly population were reporting the highest rate of unmet health care needs, and the disparity between lowest and highest groups were remained. These results suggest that adequate benefit coverage is needed for low-income and elderly population.