ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE： To evaluate the economics of the full coverage policy for hypoglycemic essential medicines in Taizhou city， and to provide reference for improving medicine accessibility and essential medicine system in China. METHODS： The electronic health records and financial input data of diabetic patients were extracted from different districts and counties of Taizhou city during 2009-2016. In cohort study design， taking the implementation time of each district and county’s policies as the breakpoint， the data recorded annually were processed as annual data， forming the cohort data for 1 year before （baseline year） and 3 years after the implementation of the policies. According to the choice of free medicines after the implementation of the policy， they were divided into policy group and control group. Propensity score matching was used to balance the differences between two groups to get the final sample， and then the economics of the policy was evaluated with the methods of difference-in-differences. The cost and benefit of implementation policy were calculated. RESULTS： Totally 14 744 people of each group were got by propensity score matching. The mean annual financial expenses on free medicine per capita were 263.8 yuan. Compared with baseline year， mean annual medicine expenses per capita reduced by the policy were 649.2 yuan， and mean annual hospitalization expenses per capita were 624.7 yuan. Thus the input-output ratio of the policy was 1 ∶ 4.8. CONCLUSIONS： The implementation of the policy is beneficial to reduce the cost burden of patients and economical. It can be popularized and sustained through scientific design combined with relevant policies.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE： To provide the empirical basis for improving full coverage policy of essential medicines in China and promoting the fairness and accessibility of medicine. METHODS： Taking Taizhou diabetes essential medicines full coverage policy as an example， the electronic health records of diabetic patients in Taizhou city from 2011 to 2017 were collected， and the cost burden of patients was evaluated by whether catastrophic expenditure of family drugs had occurred. The concentration index was used to analyze the fairness of catastrophic expenditure on household medicines， and the effects of various influencing factors on the fairness of local medicine expenditure affordability were evaluated by year-by-year comparing the relevant indexes from baseline year to the third year of policy implementation. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS： The concentration index of catastrophic expenditure on household medicines is negative from baseline year to the third year of policy implementation， which indicates that catastrophic expenditure on household medicines for diabetic patients in Taizhou mainly occurs in low-income groups. From the result of decomposition of concentration index， among the factors that affect the fairness of catastrophic expenditure on drugs in diabetic families， the contribution rate of “taking free essential medicines” keeps at top five places year by year， and the contribution value is positive， which shows that the implementation of policies is conductive to reducing the unfairness of catastrophic expenditure on household medicines in low-income families. Full coverage policy of essential medicines effectively improves the fairness of medicine expenditure affordability. In addition， scientific and reasonable essential medicines selection mechanism， the guarantee level of the policy， collaboration with multiple factors should be promoted so as to improve the fairness and accessibility of essential medicines.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE： To investigate the effects of full coverage policy for essential hypertension medicines on economic burden of hypertensive patients in Taizhou of Zhejiang Province， and to further provide reference for the practice and promotion of the policy for essential medicines. METHODS： By querying electronic health records database of hypertension patients and statistics of health bureaus in different districts and counties of Taizhou city， the data of electronic health records of hypertension patients were extracted 1 year before and during 3 years after the implementation of full coverage policy for essential medicines in all districts and counties. The patients who had consistently taken free medicines were included in the policy group； the patients who had never taken free medicines were included in the control group. The policy group and control group were matched 1 ∶ 1 by propensity score matching method. Per capita drug cost and per capita hospitalization cost of patients before and after the implementation of full coverage policy for essential medicines were calculated. The input-output ratios of the policy were calculated. RESULTS： During the 3 years after the implementation of the policy， each patient saved 91.3， 272.0 and 464.1 yuan respectively. The hospitalization cost for each patient increased by 65.6 and 46.2 yuan in the first and second year， and decreased by 352.8 yuan in the third year， respectively. A three-year per capita input of policy was 50.0， 147.2 and 278.5 yuan， with input-output ratio of 0.51， 1.28 and 2.25. CONCLUSIONS： The full coverage policy for essential hypertension medicines in Taizhou city demonstrates economic efficiency to some extent， but researches about the impact of policy on disease treatment needed to be conducted. It is necessary for the government departments to invest continuously for a long time and improve the supporting measures so as to make the policy more profitable.