New Communicable Diseases and Conditions Study Findings Have Been Reported by Researchers at Harbin Medical University (Ten-Year Poverty Alleviation Effect of the Medical Insurance System on Families With Members Who Have a Non-communicable …): Public Health – Communicable Diseases and Conditions

2021 SEP 24 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New study results on communicable diseases and conditions have been published. According to news originating from Harbin, People’s Republic of China, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “Non-communicable diseases (NCD) drag the NCD patients’ families to the abyss of poverty. Medical insurance due to weak control over medical expenses and low benefits levels, may have actually contributed to a higher burden of out-of-pocket payments.”

Funders for this research include National Natural Science Foundation of China; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation; Heilongjiang Provincial Postdoctoral Science Foundation; Health and Family Planning Commission of Heilongjiang Province; Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China.

The news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Harbin Medical University: “By making a multi-dimensional calculation on catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) in Heilongjiang Province over 10 years, it is significant to find the weak links in the implementation of medical insurance to achieve poverty alleviation. A logistic regression was undertaken to predict the determinants of catastrophic health expenditure. The average CHE of households dropped from 18.9% in 2003 to 14.9% in 2013. 33.2% of the households with three or more NCD members suffered CHE in 2013, which was 7.2 times higher than the households without it (4.6%). The uninsured households with cardiovascular disease had CHE of 12.0%, which were nearly 10% points lower than insured households (20.4-22.4%). For Medical Insurance for Urban Employees Scheme enrolled households, the increasing number of NCD members raised the risk of impoverishment from 3.4 to 20.0% in 2003, and from 0.3 to 3.1% in 2008. Households with hospital in-patient members were at higher risk of CHE (OR: 3.10-3.56). Healthcare needs and utilization are one of the most significant determinants of CHE.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Households with NCD and in-patient members are most vulnerable groups of falling into a poverty trap. The targeting of the NCD groups, the poorest groups, uninsured groups need to be primary considerations in prioritizing services that are contained in medical insurance and poverty alleviation.”

For more information on this research see: Ten-Year Poverty Alleviation Effect of the Medical Insurance System on Families With Members Who Have a Non-communicable Disease: Evidence From Heilongjiang Province in China. Frontiers in Public Health, 2021,9. (Frontiers in Public Health - http://journal.frontiersin.org/journal/public-health). The publisher for Frontiers in Public Health is Frontiers Media S.A.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.705488.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Qi Xia, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, People’s Republic of China. Additional authors for this research include Lichun Wu, Wanxin Tian, Wenqing Miao, Xiyu Zhang, Jing Xu, Yuze Li, Baoguo Shi, Nianshi Wang, Huiying Yang, Zhipeng Huang, Huiqi Yang, Qunhong Wu, Linghan Shan, Ye Li. Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.