This may be interpreted that people will still go see a doctor or be hospitalised if they or their doctor consider that they need it. However, this leads to significant financial burden for people in the lowest income quintile group among all enrolees of the Korean NHI. Direct payments for health care expenses resulted in approximately 1.5% of the total households sample in this study falling below the poverty line (based on the national minimum living cost set by the Korean Health and Welfare Ministry) (Lee and Shaw, 2014).