Impacto del Aseguramiento en Salud en la Economía de los Hogares Peruanos, 2010-2019

Objetivo : Determinar el impacto del aseguramiento en salud en la economía de los hogares peruanos en el periodo 2010-2019. Materiales y Métodos : Estudio analítico transversal, que utilizó la base de datos de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares de los años 2010, 2014 y 2019 para analizar el impacto del aseguramiento en salud en términos de gasto de bolsillo en salud, gasto catastrófico y empobrecimiento de los hogares peruanos, así como determinar qué otros factores se encuentran asociados. Resultados : Durante el periodo de estudio se observó que los hogares peruanos presentaron una disminución del gasto de bolsillo en salud promedio mensual (S/.119,9 en 2010 a S/.107,9 en 2019), así como del porcentaje de hogares con gasto catastrófico en salud (4,06 % en 2010 a 3,47 % en 2019) y del porcentaje de hogares que empobrecen por gastos de bolsillo en salud (1,78 % en 2010 a 1,51 % en 2019). Los factores asociados al gasto catastrófico en salud y al empobrecimiento fueron el menor nivel de escolaridad del jefe del hogar, la presencia de miembros con enfermedad crónica y el área de residencia rural. La ausencia de aseguramiento en salud se asoció significativamente a un mayor riesgo de gasto de bolsillo en salud catastrófico, mas no al empobrecimiento. Conclusiones : El aumento de la cobertura de aseguramiento en salud contribuye a la protección financiera de los hogares peruanos frente al gasto de bolsillo en salud; sin embargo, las barreras para el acceso efectivo a los servicios de salud y otros factores socioeconómicos pueden limitar significativamente su impacto.

Objective : To determine the impact of health insurance in the economy of Peruvian households during the 2010-2019 period. Material and Methods : This is a cross-sectional analytical study that used the database of the National Peruvian Household Surveys from years 2010, 2014, and 2019, aiming to analyze the impact of health insurance in terms of pocket money spending for health issues, catastrophic healthcare spending, and impoverishment in Peruvian households, and also to determine the presence of other associated factors. Results : During the study period, it was observed that Peruvian households reduced their monthly average pocket money spending for health issues (119.9 PEN in 2010 and 107.9 PEN in 2029), as well as the percentage of household with catastrophic healthcare expenses (4.06% in 2010 to 3.47% in 2019), and the percentage of households who became impoverished because of pocket money expenses for health issues (1.78% in 2020 to 1.51% in 2019). Factors associated to catastrophic healthcare expenses and to impoverishment were lower educational level for the household leader, the presence of family members with chronic diseases, and living in a rural area. The absence of health insurance was significantly associated to a greater risk for catastrophic healthcare expenses, but not to impoverishment. Conclusions : Increased healthcare insurance coverage contributes to financial protection of Peruvian households against pocket money spending for health issues; however, barriers for effective access to healthcare services, and other socioeconomical factors may significantly limit this impact.

Out-of-pocket expenditures associated with congenital zika syndrome in Brazil: an analysis of household health spending / Gastos out-of-pocket associados à síndrome congênita do vírus Zika no Brasil: uma análise dos gastos domiciliares em saúde

Objective: The study aims to estimate catastrophic health expenditures associated with the diagnosis and follow-up treatment of Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) in children affected during the 2015-2016 epidemic in Brazil. Catastrophic health expenditures are defined as health spending that exceeds a predefined proportion of the household's total expenditures, exposing family members to financial vulnerability. Methods: Ninety-six interviews were held in the cities of Fortaleza and Rio de Janeiro in a convenience sample, using a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and private household expenditures associated with the syndrome, which also allowed estimating catastrophic expenditures resulting from care for CZS. Results: Most of the mothers interviewed in the study were brown, under 34 years of age, unemployed, and reported a monthly family income of two minimum wages or less. Spending on medicines accounted for 77.6% of the medical expenditures, while transportation and food were the main components of nonmedical expenditures, accounting for 79% of this total. The affected households were largely low-income and suffered catastrophic expenditures due to the disease. Considering the family income metric, in 41.7% of the households, expenses with the child's disease exceeded 10% of the household income. Conclusion: Public policies should consider the financial and healthcare needs of these families to ensure adequate support for individuals affected by CZS.

Objetivo: O estudo tem como objetivo estimar os gastos catastróficos em saúde associados ao diagnóstico e acompanhamento do tratamento da síndrome congênita do Zika (SCZ) em crianças afetadas durante a epidemia de 2015-2016 no Brasil. Gastos catastróficos em saúde são definidos como gastos com saúde que excedem uma proporção predefinida dos gastos totais do domicílio, expondo os membros da família à vulnerabilidade financeira. Métodos: Foram realizadas 96 entrevistas nas cidades de Fortaleza e Rio de Janeiro numa amostra de conveniência, por meio de questionário sobre características sociodemográficas e gastos privados domiciliares associados à síndrome, o que também permitiu estimar gastos catastróficos decorrentes do cuidado à SCZ. Resultados: A maioria das mães entrevistadas no estudo era parda, com menos de 34 anos, desempregada e com renda familiar mensal igual ou inferior a dois salários mínimos. Os gastos com medicamentos representaram 77,6% dos gastos médicos, enquanto transporte e alimentação foram os principais componentes dos gastos não médicos, respondendo por 79% desse total. Os domicílios afetados eram, em grande parte, de baixa renda e sofreram gastos catastróficos devido à doença. Considerando a métrica de renda familiar, em 41,7% dos domicílios, os gastos com a doença da criança ultrapassaram 10% da renda familiar. Conclusão: As políticas públicas devem considerar as necessidades financeiras e de saúde dessas famílias para garantir o suporte adequado aos indivíduos acometidos pela SCZ.

Catastrophic Health Expenditure and Impoverishment from NonCommunicable Diseases: A comparison of Private and Public Health Facilities in Ekiti State, Southwest Nigeria

Catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment are the outcomes of poor financing mechanisms. Little is known about the prevalence and predictors of these outcomes among non-communicable disease patients in private and public health facilities. METHODS: A health facility-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 360 patients with non-communicable diseases (180 per group) selected through multistage sampling. Data were collected with a semi-structured, interviewer administered questionnaire and analyzed with IBM SPSS for Windows, Version 22.0. Two prevalences of catastrophic health expenditure were calculated utilizing both the World Bank (CHE1) and the WHO (CHE2) methodological thresholds. RESULTS: The prevalence of CHE1 (Private:42.2%, Public:21.7%, p<0.001) and CHE2 (Private:46.8%, Public:28.0%, p<0.001) were higher in private health facilities. However, there was no significant difference between the proportion of impoverishment (Private: 24.3%, Public:30.9%, p=0.170). The identified predictors were occupation, number of complications and clinic visits for catastrophic health expenditure and socioeconomic status for impoverishment in private health facilities. Level of education, occupation, socioeconomic status, number of complications and alcohol predicted catastrophic health expenditure while the level of education, socioeconomic status andthe number of admissions predicted impoverishment in public health facilities. CONCLUSION: Catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment were high among the patients, with the former more prevalent in private health facilities. Therefore, we recommend expanding the coverage and scope of national health insurance among these patients to provide them with financial risk protection. Identified predictors should be taken into account by the government and other stakeholders when designing policies to limit catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment among them

Out of pocket expenditure and its associated factors in neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care unit of tertiary care government hospital of Agra District, Uttar Pradesh

Background: Neonatal health remains a thrust area of public health, and an increased out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) may hamper efforts toward universal health coverage. Public spending on health remains low and insurance schemes few, thereby forcing impoverishment upon individuals already close to poverty line. Objective: To determine catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) in neonates admitted to the government neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and factors associated with of out-of-pocket expenditure. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in a governmental NICU at Agra from May 2017 to April 2018. A sample of 450 neonatal admissions was studied. Respondents were interviewed for required data. OOPE included costs at NICU, intervening health facilities, and transport as well. SPSS version (23.0 Trial) and Epi Info were used for analysis. Results: Of the 450 neonates analyzed, the median total OOPE was Rs. 3000. CHE was found among 55.8% of cases with 22% spending more than their household monthly income. On binary logistic regression, a higher total OOPE of Rs. 3000 or more was found to be significantly associated with higher odds of residing outside Agra (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.829), delay in first cry (AOR = 1.623), referral points ?3 (AOR = 3.449), private sector as first referral (AOR = 2.476), and when treatment was accorded during transport (AOR = 1.972). Conclusions: OOPE on neonates amounts to a substantial figure and is more than the country average. This needs to be addressed sufficiently and comprehensively through government schemes, private enterprises, and public杙rivate partnerships.

Progress on economic burden of patients with multidrug resistant tuberculosis / 公共卫生与预防医学

Compared with ordinary tuberculosis, multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is more difficult to treat, with longer time of regime, lower cure rate and higher cost of treatment. It is estimated that the cost of multidrug resistant tuberculosis is about 100-200 times that of ordinary tuberculosis, resulting in the catastrophic health expenditure of some patients and their families, which seriously affects the patients’ compliance with treatment, and makes effective prevention and control of tuberculosis face huge resistance. So far, only a limited number of studies have analyzed the economic burden of the disease and its impact on patients, families and societies from different perspectives. Therefore, this article systematically reviews the economic burden of MDR-TB patients, and reveals the current economic burden of MDR-TB tuberculosis and related research progress, to provide a reference for optimizing or improving relevant medical insurance policies to control the tuberculosis and also for future studies.

Study on the Health Economic Burden of Hypertension Patients and Its Influential Factors in 7 County-level Public Hospitals from 6 Provinces of China / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE：To e xplore the health economic burden of hypertension patients at county-level areas and its influential factors in China. METHODS ：A questionnaire survey was conducted on hypertension patients in 7 county-level public hospitals from 6 provinces as Hebei ，Shandong，Shanxi provinces by using a convenient sampling method. Catastrophic health expenditure was defined by the standard of “medical and health expenditure exceeding 10％ of household income ”. The incidence ， average gap and relative gap of catastrophic health expenditure were analyzed. A multi-factor Logistic regression model analysis was used to analyze the influential factors that lead to catastrophi c health expenditure. RESULTS ：A total of 1 378 questionnaires were sent out ，and 925 valid questionnaires were collected with effective rate of 67.13％ . The incidence of catastrophic health expenditure，average gap and relative gap among hypertension patients were 23.03％，19.37％ and 84.12％，respectively. At different income levels ，the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure，average gap and relative gap were 72.67％ ， 96.79％ and 133.18％ in the poorest household group ，and were 1.94％ ，0.47％ and 24.23％ in the richest household group. Among different types of medical insurance ，the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in patients covered by “New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme （NRCMS）”the highest （31.30％）. The household income ，complications and the type of health insurance had significant impacts on the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in hypertension patients （P＜0.05）. CONCLUSIONS：The incidence of catastrophic health expenditure in hypertension patients with different income levels is different. As the income level raised ，the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures continued to decrease. But the protection of household health expenditure by NRCMS is weak. It is suggested that a certain policy preference should be given to families with low income and patients with chronic diseases ，so as to ensure the rights and interests of patients with hypertension .

Documenting catastrophic spending on health by migrant slum population

Background: India ranks among the bottom five countries in public health spending. Out of pocket spending of households on healthcare is almost 70% of income and reimbursement in any form availed by households whose members are employed in the formal sector is negligible. Objectives: To determine the usual source of medical care opted for by the study population. To find out the illness pattern and its age/sex distribution in the study population. To find out the expenditure incurred on illness and its source of procurement by the study population. Methodology: 52.42% urban Aligarh resides in slums. A cross sectional study was done to study the newer slum pockets. 3409 households with a population of 16,978 were studied with the help of pretested questionnaire; SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis. Results: In our study, we found that almost all the households suffered from catastrophic health expenditure. The study population, which was already vulnerable owing to their low socio-economic and migrant status was further forced into poverty and indebtedness on account of expenditure on illness. Conclusions: National health financing systems should be designed to protect households from financial catastrophe, by reducing out-of-pocket spending.

Catastrophic Health Expenditure and Trend of South Korea in 2017 / 보건행정학회지

Catastrophic health expenditure refers to spending more than a certain level of household's income on healthcare expenditure. The aim of this study was to investigate the proportion of households that experienced catastrophic health expenditure between 2006 and 2017 with the National Survey of Tax and Benefit (NaSTaB) and between 2011 to 2016 using Households Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) data. The results of the NaSTaB showed 2.16% of households experienced the catastrophic health expenditure in 2017. In trend analysis, the NaSTaB revealed a statistically significant decreasing trend (annual percentage change [APC]=−2.01, p<0.001) in the proportion of households with the catastrophic health expenditure. On the other hand, the results of the HIES showed 2.92% of households experienced the catastrophic health expenditure in 2016. Also, there was a slightly increasing trend (APC=1.43, p<0.001). In subgroup analysis, groups with lower income levels were likely to experience catastrophic health expenditure. In conclusion, further public support system is needed to lower experience these healthcare expenditures and monitor the low income group.

Gasto catastrófico y cobertura universal de salud: Análisis en el Sistema Nacional de Salud del Paraguay / Catastrophic health expenditure and universal health coverage: Analysis in the National Health System of Paraguay

Introducción: La cobertura universal de salud es una meta de salud de los Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible de las NNUU para el 2030. Un componente de la cobertura en salud es la protección financiera para recibir atención médica ante una enfermedad. Y, un indicador de la protección financiera es la incidencia de Gastos Catastróficos por motivos de salud. Objetivo: El objetivo de este trabajo es describir la evolución del Gasto Catastrófico de salud de los hogares paraguayos entre el 2000 y el 2015. Materiales y Métodos: El material utilizado fue la Encuesta Permanente de Hogares de la DGEEC. El Gasto Catastrófico fue definido como aquellos gastos de bolsillo ≥ al 30% de la capacidad de pago de los hogares. Resultados: Los resultados indican que, durante ese periodo, la proporción de hogares afectados por gastos catastróficos varió entre 2,8% y 4,33%, siendo la mediana 4,10%. Los más afectados fueron los hogares rurales y los pobres. La proporción de hogares afectados presentó una tendencia al descenso, sobre todo para hogares urbanos y no pobres. Conclusión: La conclusión es que los hogares paraguayos están expuestos a gastos catastróficos por motivos de salud. La ocurrencia es mayor según las referidas características socioeconómicas. El desempeño actual del sistema nacional de salud no será suficiente para alcanzar la cobertura universal con protección financiera para todos. Por tanto, es necesario implementar nuevas políticas para la población más expuesta.

Introduction: Universal health coverage is a health goal of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. One component of health coverage is the financial protection to receive medical care for a disease. And, an indicator of financial protection is the incidence of Catastrophic Expenditures for health reasons. The objective of this paper is to describe the evolution of the Catastrophic Health Expenditure of Paraguayan households between 2000 and 2015. Materials and Methods: The material used was the Permanent Household Survey of the DGEEC. Catastrophic Expenditure was defined as those out-of-pocket expenses ≥ 30% of the household's payment capacity. Results: The results indicate that during this period, the proportion of households affected by catastrophic expenses ranged between 2.8% and 4.33%, with the median being 4.10%. Rural households and the poor were the most affected. The proportion of affected households showed a downward trend, especially for urban and non-poor households. Conclusion: In conclusion, Paraguayan households are exposed to catastrophic expenses for health reasons. The occurrence is greater according to the referred socioeconomic characteristics. The current performance of the national health system will not be enough to achieve universal coverage with financial protection for all. Therefore, it is necessary to implement new policies for the most exposed population.

The Effect of Gender on Catastrophic Health Expenditure in South Korea: Gender-Based Approach by Subgroup Analysis / 보건행정학회지

BACKGROUND: Catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) occurs when medical expenditure of a household passes over a certain ratio of household income. This research studied the effect of gender on CHE based on Korea Health Panel data. METHODS: This study implemented binary logistic regression model to figure out whether gender affects CHE and how different gender groups show pattern of CHE process. With gender, age, marital status, income level, economic activity, membership of private insurance, existence of chronic disease, and self-rated health were included in the model. RESULTS: Results showed that females faced CHE 1.5 times more than males (odds ratio, 1.241). Also, main determinants of CHE in female groups were marital status, while age and economic activity status were significant in male groups. Subgroup analysis displayed that married female under 35 years old are located in intersectionality of CHE including pregnancy and delivery, multiple health risk behaviors, mental stress, and relatively vulnerable social status due to lower income. Meanwhile, both gender above 50 years old faced remarkably high chance of CHE, which seems to be caused by complex health risk behaviors and chronic diseases. CONCLUSION: Such results implied not only that gender is an important determinant of CHE, but also other determinants of CHE differ according to gender, which suggests a necessity of gender-based CHE support and rescue policy.

Catastrophic Health Expenditure and Trend of South Korea in 2016 / 보건행정학회지

Catastrophic health expenditure refers to when a household spends more than 40 percent of disposable income for out-of-pocketexpenses for healthcare. This study investigates the percentage of South Korean household which experienced the catastrophic health expenditure between 2006 and 2016 with the National Survey of Tax and Benefit and the Household Income and Expenditure Survey data. Percentage of households with the catastrophic health expenditure and tread tests were conducted with weight variable. The results of the National Survey of Tax and Benefit and the Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed 2.17% and 2.92% of households experienced the catastrophic health expenditure in 2016. In trend analysis, the National Survey of Tax and Benefit showed a statistically significant decreasing trend in the proportion of households with the catastrophic health expenditure (annual percentage change [APC]=−4.03, p < 0.0001). However, the Household Income and Expenditure Survey revealed a statistically significant increasing trend (APC=1.43, p < 0.0001). In conclusion, this study suggests that optimal healthcare alternatives are needed for the catastrophic health expenditure and monitoring low-income households.

Analysis on the Catastrophic Expenditure on Health and Its Influence Factors of Worker Households in Heilongjiang National Forest Areas / 中国卫生经济

Objective:To analyze the situation and influence factors of catastrophic health expenditure in national forest areas of Heilongjiang in 2015,and propose some measures to reduce the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure.Methods:The calculating method for international catastrophic health expenditure was used to estimate the catastrophic health expenditure rate,average gap and relative gap calculation method were estimated based on logistic regression analysis method.Results:In the standard definition of 15％,25％,30％ and 40％,the catastrophic health expenditure rates of Heilongjiang national forest areas in 2015 were 27.29％,14.79％,11.80％ and 8.27％;the average gap were 5.29％,3.25％,2.59％ and 1.61％;the relative gap were 19.38％,21.97％,21.95％and 19.47％.Family economic income and household cultural degree were the protective factors for catastrophic health expenditure.Low-insurance family,family with the elderly above 65 years old and family member hospitalization were risk factors for catastrophic health expenditure.Conclusion:The government should pay more attention to the poor,increase the family income in multi-channel;focus on prevention and timely medical treatment so as to reduce the risk of serious illness;increase investment in education,improve the education level of residents;pay attention to the elderly population and improve the medical security system.

Definition methods and standards on medical assistance objects of catastrophic diseases systems based on catastrophic health expenditure perspective / 中华医院管理杂志

Objective To explore the methods and standards of catastrophic health expenditure for China,and improve the operability in defining those impoverished due to diseases.Methods 600 households with inpatients were randomly sampled from 12 villages of three townships in City M in Hubei province for household survey.Literature review and expert consultation methods were used to measure and determine the threshold of catastrophic health expenditure( CHE) of City M,with improvements made by grouping.Results In a uniform standard,the CHE occurrence of the income method and expenditure method is lower than the non-existence expenditure method and WHO method,verifying theoretically that the standard set for the former should be higher than the latter.In addition,the income method and expenditure method present differently in China.Standards set should vary with different measurement methods,maintaining approximate CEH expenditure for the same region.For the income method and expenditure method,the recommended benchmark reference is 25%,with an adjustable range of 35%~45%.Mutual verifications of these methods can further determine a rational CHE value.Conclusions The CHE methods support the definition of people impoverished due to diseases beyond their household payment capacity.Different thresholds however should be set for different methods,and the relative standards should be translated into absolute standards by grouping.

Determinants of Out-of-Pocket and Catastrophic Health Expenditure: A Cross-sectional Study.

Background: In India, Out of Pocket Health Expenditures (OOPHE) is as high as 70-80% of total health expenditures, borne by the families of ailing persons. In most cases such high OOPHE is catastrophic in nature, in the backdrop of high poverty level in the country. High OOPHE and Catastrophic Health Expenditures (CHE) have a potential to impoverish people. It is therefore important to identify the predictors of OOPHE and CHE, to formulate an equitable and efficient financial protection measure from health expenditure. Methods: The study tried to understand the factors of out-of-pocket health expenditure and catastrophic health expenditure using the cross-sectional data from 986 sampled households in Koderma district of the state of Jharkhand in India. A multi-staged sampling method was followed to select households with incidences of in-patient care in the last one and child birth in the last two years and of out-patient care in the last one month. Alongside health expenditure data of the sampled households, their socio-demographic and socio-economic information were also collected using survey questionnaire. Findings: Male headed households, families with more than five members, household head who were unemployed or were engaged in agriculture or labour works as compared to those in service; household head aged above 60 years, households from higher expenditure quintiles, households with any member suffering from chronic illness, households reporting any episode of hospitalisation, in-patient or delivery services availed from private providers in the reference periods, families living closer to service providers especially private providers were significant predictors of high OOPHE. Residence in rural area (aOR: 1.65, 95% CI 1.10 - 2.49), families living in ‘kutcha’ (mud house) houses (aOR: 1.46, 95% CI 1.06 - 2.0), families with lower social status like Schedule Tribe (aOR: 1.76, 95% CI 1.0 – 3.13), Scheduled Caste (aOR: 1.73, 95% CI 1.02 - 2.92) and Other Backward Classes (aOR: 1.42, 95% CI 1.02 - 2.01) compared to General castes, families where any member suffering from chronic illness (aOR: 2.33, 99% CI 1.48 – 3.67), families where any member had received in-patient care in the last one year irrespective of type of providers (aOR: 2.18, 99% CI 1.60 - 2.97), longer distance from health service providers, had higher likelihood of CHE. Conclusion: The study tried to identify different predictors of Out of Pocket Health Expenditure (OOPHE) and Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE), incurred by families seeking medical care for various ailments. OOPHE was found higher among families from higher expenditure quintile; however, people from disadvantaged socio economic profile had higher likelihood of CHE. Apparently, even smaller OOPHE is proving to be catastrophic for families from lower socio-economic segments. Families with any member suffering from chronic illness were at a higher risk of CHE. OOPHE was considerably higher when services have been sought from private providers compared to public health providers, however, for in-patient care, expenditure incurred in both situations were found to be catastrophic. Urgent action is needed for designing healthcare finance policies that is more equitable and efficient and has a potential to reduce OOPHE and incidences of CHE.

Catastrophic Health Expenditures for Households with Disabled Members: Evidence from the Korean Health Panel

Persons with disabilities use more health care services due to ill health and face higher health care expenses and burden. This study explored the incidence of catastrophic health expenditures of households with persons with disabilities compared to that of those without such persons. We used the Korean Health Panel (KHP) dataset for the years 2010 and 2011. The final sample was 5,610 households; 800 (14.3%) of these were households with a person with a disability and 4,810 (85.7%) were households without such a person. Households with a person with a disability faced higher catastrophic health expenditures, spending about 1.2 to 1.4 times more of their annual living expenditures for out-of-pocket medical expenses, compared to households without persons with disabilities. Households having low economic status and members with chronic disease were more likely to face catastrophic health expenditures, while those receiving public assistance were less likely. Exemption or reduction of out-of-pocket payments in the National Health Insurance and additional financial support are needed so that the people with disabilities can use medical services without suffering financial crisis.

The effects of New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme on catastrophic health expenditure of rural families:A case study of Xiaochang County in Hubei Province / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective: To study the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure of rural families in Xiaochang County of Hubei province, in order to explore the influential factors of catastrophic health expenditure. Methods: By using a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling to conduct a household survey, this paper randomly selects a total of a-bout 1,222 households of 4,673 people from 9 villages of 3 different towns in Xiaochang county of Hubei province, in order to compare the rate and severity of catastrophic health expenditure before and after joining the New Rural Coop-erative Medical Scheme ( NRCMS) , and it uses binary logistic regression model to analyze the influential factors of catastrophic health expenditure. Results: After joining the NRCMS, the rate, average gap and relative gap of cata-strophic health expenditure have all declined within the sampled areas; the influential factors of catastrophic health expenditure are household income, the number of working family members, the number of hospitalizations in family members, and the number of chronic patients among family members. Conclusion: With the increase of household in-come in the rural areas of Xiaochang County, both the rate and severity of catastrophic health expenditure have de-creased. In order to significantly reduce the catastrophic health expenditure in the rural areas of Xiaochang County, the government should perfectly improve the NRCMS's compensation mechanism for chronic outpatients' costs and re-duce the proportion of self-pay patients from low-income families.

Analysis and evaluation of the implementation effect on catastrophic disease insurance of the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme in Beijing / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective: To analyze the effects of the catastrophic disease insurance of New Rural Cooperative Med-ical Scheme ( NRCMS) on alleviating the economic burden of patients in Beijing, and evaluate the effect of the policy implementation. Methods: Based on high, middle and low economic development levels and the implementation pro-ceedings of catastrophic disease insurance of NRCMS, this paper selects 3 districts of Beijing, from which it chooses two or three villages and towns with the highest numbers of catastrophic disease patients, in order to understand the opera-tional status quo of the catastrophic disease insurance through in-depth interviews with managers. This paper conducts questionnaire survey among all catastrophic disease patients from the sampled villages and towns, and uses 497 valid questionnaires received to understand patients' subjective feelings and collect relevant data of family income and medical expenditure of catastrophic disease patients in 2013. Then it carries out data docking with the platform of NRCMS man-agement centers and measure the economic burden of catastrophic disease patients. In this paper, quantitative and qualitative data are analyzed using statistical and thematic analyses, respectively. Results: The catastrophic disease in-surance of NRCMS has significantly played an important role in reducing the average medical expenditure of catastroph-ic disease patients and improving the actual compensation ratio in varying degrees. However, the incidence of cata-strophic health expenditures has not significantly improved. Conclusion: This paper suggests to increase deductibles and reimbursement ratios of catastrophic disease insurance in order to broaden reimbursement directory and other initiatives to improve the compensation level and focus on alleviating the economic burden of catastrophic disease patients.

Catastrophic health expenditure for poor and low-income rural residents under New Rural Co-operative Medical Scheme / 中国卫生政策研究

Objective:To evaluate the catastrophic health expenditure for poor and lower-income rural residents and the ability of New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme( NRCMS) to alleviate poverty. Methods:We selected Zhe-jiang, Hubei, and Chongqing provinces as sample areas and obtained 1661 questionnaires through a field survey. We calculated the out-of-pocket expenditure per year, incidence, average gap, relative gap, and concentration index of catastrophic health expenditure for participating households. Results:Both before and after compensation, incidence, average gap, and relative gap of catastrophic health payment for poverty group were the highest, followed by low-in-come group. After compensation, the concentration index decreased. This means that catastrophic health expenditure tends to be focused more on families with financial difficulties. Conclusion:To protect poor and low-income rural res-idents from catastrophic health expenditure, we should promote critical illness insurance, improve the medical assis-tance system, implement payment reform, and improve the NRCMS.

Catastrophic health expenditure & coping strategies associated with acute coronary syndrome in Kerala, India.

Background & objectives: India contributes a significant number of deaths attributed to coronary artery disease (CAD) compared to the rest of the world. Data on catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) related to acute coronary syndrome (ACS), the major cause of deaths in CAD, are limited in the literature. We estimated the magnitude of CHE and studied the strategies used to cope with CHE. Methods: Two hundred and ten ACS patients (mean age 56 yr, 83% men) were randomly selected proportionately from six hospitals in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala, India. Information on demographics, ACS-related out-of-pocket expenditure and coping strategies was collected using a pre-tested structured interview schedule. CHE, defined as ACS-related expenditures exceeding 40 per cent of a household's capacity to pay, was estimated using the World Health Organization methods. Health security was defined as protection against out-of-pocket expenditure through an employer or government provided social security scheme. Socio-demographic variables, effect on participants’ employment, loans or asset sales for treatment purposes, health security coverage and type of treatment were considered as potential correlates of CHE. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the correlates of CHE. Results: CHE was experienced by 84 per cent (95% CI: 79.04, 88.96) of participants as a consequence of treating ACS. Participants belonging to low socio-economic status (SES) were 15 times (odds ratio (OR): 14.51, 95% CI: 1.69-124.41), whose jobs were adversely affected were seven times (OR: 7.21, CI: 1.54-33.80), who had no health security were six times (OR: 6.00, CI: 2.02-17.81) and who underwent any intervention were three times (OR: 3.24, CI: 1.03-10.16) more likely to have CHE compared to their counterparts. The coping strategies adopted by the participants were loans (41%), savings (14%), health insurance (8%) and a combination of the above (37%). Interpretation & conclusions: Our findings show that viable financing mechanism for treating ACS is warranted to prevent CHE particularly among low SES participants, those having no health security, requiring intervention procedures and those with adversely affected employment.

The Effect of Catastrophic Health Expenditure on the Transition to Poverty and the Persistence of Poverty in South Korea / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The low benefit coverage rate of South Korea's health security system has been continually pointed out. A low benefit coverage rate inevitably causes catastrophic health expenditure, which can be the cause of the transition to poverty and the persistence of poverty. This study was conducted to ascertain the effect of catastrophic health expenditure on the transition to poverty and the persistence of poverty in South Korea. METHODS: To determine the degree of social mobility, this study was conducted among the 6311 households that participated in the South Korea Welfare Panel Study in both 2006 and 2008. The effect of catastrophic health expenditure on the transition to poverty and the persistence of poverty in South Korea was assessed via multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The poverty rate in South Korea was 21.6% in 2006 and 20.0% in 2008. 25.1 - 7.3% of the households are facing catastrophic health expenditure. Catastrophic health expenditure was found to affect the transition to poverty even after adjusting for the characteristics of the household and the head of the household, at the threshold of 28% or above. CONCLUSIONS: 25.1% of the households in this study were found to be currently facing catastrophic health expenditure, and it was determined that catastrophic health expenditure is a cause of transition to poverty. This result shows that South Korea's health security system is not an effective social safety net. As such, to prevent catastrophic health expenditure and transition to poverty, the benefit coverage of South Korea's health security system needs to the strengthened.