This study examines the effect of the out-of-pocket (OOP) maximum on healthcare utilization in South Korea, using Korean Health Panel (KHP) data from 2011 to 2017 and the continuous Difference-in-Differences (DID) approach. Public health insurance programs typically include cost sharing mechanisms—such as deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance—to prevent moral hazard. The OOP maximum, which limits annual cost sharing, protects individuals from excessive financial burdens and encourages access to necessary healthcare. Using KHP data and a continuous DID approach, I analyze how changes in the OOP maximum policy affect healthcare utilization. First, the study finds that higher OOP maximums reduce the use of outpatient and inpatient services, while their effect on emergency care use is limited and statistically insignificant. These findings suggest that for injuries requiring immediate treatment or symptoms with acute onset, urgency drives healthcare use rather than cost. In addition, low-income households are more responsive to variations in the OOP maximum. Changes in the OOP maximum have a smaller impact on outpatient service use for patients with more severe chronic conditions, and OOP maximums do not affect inpatient or emergency care use in patients with health risks. The persistent use of healthcare suggests the OOP maximum policy protects against catastrophic medical expenses without causing moral hazard for patients in poor health.

While many studies have analyzed the effect of unemployment spells on job search behavior, little research has examined whether UI benefits affect job search intensity. We apply the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Benefit Accuracy Measurement (BAM) data to investigate how job search intensity, measured as the number of searches in the survey week, responds to the cause of the unemployment spell, recall expectations, UI benefit level, remaining benefits, and prior wage. An Inverse Hyperbolic Sine(IHS) double hurdle model evaluates how these factors affect whether and how intensively to search. We find that as the probability of being recalled to a previous job increases, unemployed individuals tend to search less. More generous unemployment benefits increase the probability of job market participation, but does not affect job search intensity.