Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Reports Findings in Lung Cancer (Medical insurance payment schemes and patient medical expenses: a cross-sectional study of lung cancer patients in urban China): Oncology – Lung Cancer

2023 FEB 02 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Oncology - Lung Cancer is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating from Beijing, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “As the main cause of cancer death, lung cancer imposes seriously health and economic burdens on individuals, families, and the health system. In China, there is no national study analyzing the hospitalization expenditures of different payment methods by lung cancer inpatients.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, “Based on the 2010-2016 database of insured urban resident lung cancer inpatients from the China Medical Insurance Research Association (CHIRA), this paper aims to investigate the characteristics and cost of hospitalized lung cancer patient, to examine the differences in hospital expenses and patient out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses under four medical insurance payment methods: fee-for-service (FFS), per-diem payments, capitation payments (CAP) and case-based payments, and to explore the medical insurance payment method that can be conducive to controlling the cost of lung cancer. This is a 2010-2016, 7-year cross-sectional study. CHIRA data are not available to researchers after 2016. The Medical Insurance Database of CHIRA was screened using the international disease classification system to yield 28,200 inpatients diagnosed with lung cancer (ICD-10: C34, C34.0, C34.1, C34.2, C34.3, C34.8, C34.9). The study includes descriptive analysis and regression analysis based on generalized linear models (GLM). The average patient age was 63.4 years and the average length of hospital stay (ALOS) was 14.2 day; 60.7% of patients were from tertiary hospitals; and 45% were insured by FFS. The per-diem payment had the lowest hospital expenses (RMB7496.00/US$1176.87), while CAP had the lowest OOP expenses (RMB1328.18/US$208.52). Compared with FFS hospital expenses, per-diem was 21.3% lower (95% CI = -0.265, -0.215) and case-based payment was 8.4% lower (95% CI = -0.151, -0.024). Compared with the FFS, OOP expenses, per-diem payments were 9.2% lower (95% CI = -0.130, -0.063) and CAP was 15.1% lower (95% CI = -0.151, -0.024). For lung cancer patients, per-diem payment generated the lowest hospital expenses, while CAP meant patients bore the lowest OOP costs. Policy makers are suggested to give priority to case-based payments to achieve a tripartite balance among medical insurers, hospitals, and insured members.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “We also recommend future studies comparing the disparities of various diseases for the cause of different medical insurance schemes.”

For more information on this research see: Medical insurance payment schemes and patient medical expenses: a cross-sectional study of lung cancer patients in urban China. BMC Health Services Research, 2023;23(1):89. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Hanxu Hu, School of Management, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Liying Zhao, Yang Yong, Stephen Nicholas, Elizabeth Maitland, Weihan Zhao, Hao Yan, Yong Ma and Xuefeng Shi.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09078-3. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the journal BMC Health Services Research is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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