학술논문

Association between health insurance cost-sharing and choice of hospital tier for cardiovascular diseases in China: a prospective cohort studyResearch in context
Document Type
article
Author
Muriel LevyJohn BuckellRobert ClarkeNina WuPei PeiDianjianyi SunDaniel AveryHua ZhangJun LvCanqing YuLiming LiZhengming ChenWinnie YipYiping ChenBorislava MihaylovaJunshi ChenRory CollinsChen WangRichard PetoRobin WaltersMaxim BarnardDerrick BennettRuth BoxallKahung ChanJohnathan ClarkeHuaidong DuAhmed Edris MohamedHannah FrySimon GilbertPek Kei ImAndri IonaMaria KakkouraChristiana KartsonakiHubert LamKuang LinJames LiuMohsen MazidiIona MillwoodSam MorrisQunhua NieAlfred PozarickiPaul RyderSaredo SaidDan SchmidtBecky StevensIain TurnbullBaihan WangLin WangNeil WrightLing YangXiaoming YangPang YaoXiao HanCan HouQingmei XiaChao LiuNaying ChenDuo LiuZhenzhu TangNingyu ChenQilian JiangJian LanMingqiang LiYun LiuFanwen MengJinhuai MengRong PanYulu QinPing WangSisi WangLiuping WeiLiyuan ZhouCaixia DongPengfei GeXiaolan RenZhongxiao LiEnke MaoTao WangHui ZhangXi ZhangJinyan ChenXimin HuXiaohuan WangZhendong GuoHuimei LiYilei LiMin WengShukuan WuShichun YanMingyuan ZouXue ZhouZiyan GuoQuan KangYanjie LiBo YuQinai XuLiang ChangLei FanShixian FengDing ZhangGang ZhouYulian GaoTianyou HePan HeChen HuHuarong SunXukui ZhangBiyun ChenZhongxi FuYuelong HuangHuilin LiuQiaohua XuLi YinHuajun LongXin XuHao ZhangLibo ZhangJian SuRan TaoMing WuJie YangJinyi ZhouYonglin ZhouYihe HuYujie HuaJianrong JinFang LiuJingchao LiuYan LuLiangcai MaAiyu TangJun ZhangLiang ChengRanran DuRuqin GaoFeifei LiShanpeng LiYongmei LiuFeng NingZengchang PangXiaohui SunXiaocao TianShaojie WangYaoming ZhaiWei HouSilu LvJunzheng WangXiaofang ChenXianping WuNingmei ZhangXiaoyu ChangJianguo LiJiaqiu LiuGuojin LuoQiang SunXunfu ZhongWeiwei GongRuying HuHao WangMeng WangMin YuLingli ChenQijun GuDongxia PanChunmei WangKaixu XieXiaoyi ZhangHongyuan ChenLiyang LiuHaiyan GouXun WangJing DingNing ZhangYueshi MaoShanshan ZhouLirong JinXin ChengYun LuLi ChenZilong HaoXiaona XingLei WangNaixin JuYiting MaoShuya LiPeng DuDeren WangXiaojia SunShihao YouWeizhi WangYanmei ZhuXiaojiu LiYi Dong
Source
The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific, Vol 45, Iss , Pp 101020- (2024)
Subject
Hospital type
Cardiovascular diseases
Healthcare seeking behaviour
China
Public aspects of medicine
RA1-1270
Language
English
ISSN
2666-6065
Abstract
Summary: Background: Hospitals in China are classified into tiers (1, 2 or 3), with the largest (tier 3) having more equipment and specialist staff. Differential health insurance cost-sharing by hospital tier (lower deductibles and higher reimbursement rates in lower tiers) was introduced to reduce overcrowding in higher tier hospitals, promote use of lower tier hospitals, and limit escalating healthcare costs. However, little is known about the effects of differential cost-sharing in health insurance schemes on choice of hospital tiers. Methods: In a 9-year follow-up of a prospective study of 0.5 M adults from 10 areas in China, we examined the associations between differential health insurance cost-sharing and choice of hospital tiers for patients with a first hospitalisation for stroke or ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in 2009–2017. Analyses were performed separately in urban areas (stroke: n = 20,302; IHD: n = 19,283) and rural areas (stroke: n = 21,130; IHD: n = 17,890), using conditional logit models and adjusting for individual socioeconomic and health characteristics. Findings: About 64–68% of stroke and IHD cases in urban areas and 27–29% in rural areas chose tier 3 hospitals. In urban areas, higher reimbursement rates in each tier and lower tier 3 deductibles were associated with a greater likelihood of choosing their respective hospital tiers. In rural areas, the effects of cost-sharing were modest, suggesting a greater contribution of other factors. Higher socioeconomic status and greater disease severity were associated with a greater likelihood of seeking care in higher tier hospitals in urban and rural areas. Interpretation: Patient choice of hospital tiers for treatment of stroke and IHD in China was influenced by differential cost-sharing in urban areas, but not in rural areas. Further strategies are required to incentivise appropriate health seeking behaviour and promote more efficient hospital use. Funding: Wellcome Trust, Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, China Ministry of Science and Technology, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.