Dataset Information

Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures on Complementary Health Approaches Associated With Painful Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Adult Sample.

ABSTRACT: UNLABELLED:National surveys suggest that millions of adults in the United States use complementary health approaches such as acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, and herbal medicines to manage painful conditions such as arthritis, back pain, and fibromyalgia. Yet, national and per person out-of-pocket (OOP) costs attributable to this condition-specific use are unknown. In the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, the use of complementary health approaches, the reasons for this use, and the associated OOP costs were captured in a nationally representative sample of 5,467 adults. Ordinary least square regression models that controlled for comorbid conditions were used to estimate aggregate and per person OOP costs associated with 14 painful health conditions. Individuals using complementary approaches spent a total of $14.9 billion (standard error [SE] = $.9 billion) on these approaches to manage these painful conditions. Total OOP expenditures by those using complementary approaches for their back pain ($8.7 billion, SE = $.8 billion) far outstripped OOP expenditures for any other condition; the majority of these costs ($4.7 billion, SE = $.4 billion) were for visits to complementary providers. Annual condition-specific per person OOP costs varied from a low of $568 (SE = $144) for regular headaches to a high of $895 (SE = $163) for fibromyalgia. PERSPECTIVE:Adults in the United States spent $14.9 billion on complementary health approaches (eg, acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, and herbal medicines) to manage painful conditions including back pain ($8.7 billion). This back pain estimate is almost one-third of the total conventional health care expenditure for back pain ($30.4 billion) and two-thirds higher than conventional OOP expenditures ($5.1 billion).

SUBMITTER: Nahin RL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4630099 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures on Complementary Health Approaches Associated With Painful Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Adult Sample.

Nahin Richard L RL Stussman Barbara J BJ Herman Patricia M PM

The journal of pain 20150829 11

<h4>Unlabelled</h4>National surveys suggest that millions of adults in the United States use complementary health approaches such as acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, and herbal medicines to manage painful conditions such as arthritis, back pain, and fibromyalgia. Yet, national and per person out-of-pocket (OOP) costs attributable to this condition-specific use are unknown. In the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, the use of complementary health approaches, the reasons for this use, a ...[more]

PMID: 26320946

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Project description:In Ethiopia, little is known about the extent of out-of-pocket health expenditures and the associated financial hardships at national and regional levels. We estimated the incidence of both catastrophic and impoverishing health expenditures using data from the 2015/16 Ethiopian household consumption and expenditure and welfare monitoring surveys. We computed incidence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) at 10% and 25% thresholds of total household consumption and 40% threshold of household capacity to pay, and impoverishing health expenditures (IHE) using Ethiopia's national poverty line (ETB 7184 per adult per year). Around 2.1% (SE: 0.2, P < 0.001) of households would face CHE with a 10% threshold of total consumption, and 0.9% (SE: 0.1, P < 0.001) of households would encounter IHE, annually in Ethiopia. CHE rates were high in the regions of Afar (5.8%, SE: 1.0, P < 0.001) and Benshangul-Gumuz (4.0%, SE: 0.8, P < 0.001). Oromia (n = 902 000), Amhara (n = 275 000) and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) (n = 268 000) regions would have the largest numbers of affected households, due to large population size. The IHE rates would also show similar patterns: high rates in Afar (5.0%, SE: 0.96, P < 0.001), Oromia (1.1%, SE: 0.22, P < 0.001) and Benshangul-Gumuz (0.9%, SE: 0.4, P = 0.02); a large number of households would be impoverished in Oromia (n = 356 000) and Amhara (n = 202 000) regions. In summary, a large number of households is facing financial hardship in Ethiopia, particularly in Afar, Benshangul-Gumuz, Oromia, Amhara and SNNP regions and this number would likely increase with greater health services utilization. We recommend regional-level analyses on services coverage to be conducted as some of the estimated low CHE/IHE regional values might be due to low services coverage. Periodic analyses on the financial hardship status of households could also be monitored to infer progress towards universal health coverage.

Project description:ImportanceOver the past decade, branded prescription drug manufacturers have substantially increased list prices while offering larger rebate payments to health care insurers. Whereas larger rebates can partially offset increases in list prices for insurers, patient out-of-pocket costs may be directly associated with list prices for individuals without insurance and indirectly associated with list prices for individuals with insurance through deductibles or coinsurance.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between rebates and patient out-of-pocket costs and whether this association differs by coverage type (ie, Medicare, commercial, or uninsured) and before and after 2014.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) combined with pricing data for single-source branded drugs from SSR Health from 2007 through 2018. The study was conducted among a nationally representative sample of the noninstitutionalized civilian US population. Included individuals were respondents to MEPS with at least 1 prescription for a single-source branded drug who were covered by Medicare or commercial insurance or were uninsured during an entire year. Data analyses were conducted from August 2019 through March 2021.ExposuresEstimated rebate size.Main outcomes and measuresOut-of-pocket costs per prescription were calculated, adjusting for year and drug.ResultsAmong 38 131 individuals with at least 1 prescription, the mean age was 54 years (95% CI, 54 to 55 years), with 22 044 women (57.8%) and 29 086 White individuals (76.3%). The sample included 444 unique drugs with a survey-weighted total of 4.7 billion prescriptions. Estimated mean (SE) rebates increased from $34 ($1) per prescription in 2007 to $374 ($9) per prescription in 2018. The rebate sizes were associated with statistically significant mean out-of-pocket increases per branded prescription of $4 (95% CI, $4 to $4) from 2007 to 2013 and $11 (95% CI, $10 to $12) from 2014 to 2018. From 2014 to 2018, rebate sizes were associated with statistically significant mean increases in out-of-pocket costs per prescription of $13 (95% CI, $12 to $13) for individuals with Medicare, $6 (95% CI, $6 to $7) for individuals with commercial insurance, and $39 (95% CI, $34 to $44) for individuals without insurance. After adjusting for list prices, there was no association between rebates and out-of-pocket costs, with a change from 2014 to 2018 of -$0.01 (95% CI, -$0.04 to $0.02).Conclusions and relevanceThese findings suggest that drug manufacturers may have provided larger rebates to insurers primarily by increasing list prices and that individuals without insurance had greater cost increases. The results emphasize the need for policy solutions that decouple list prices and out-of-pocket costs.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Back pain impacts on a significant proportion of the Australian population over the life course and has high prevalence rates among women, particularly in older age. Back pain care is characterised by multiple practitioner and self-prescribed treatment options, and the out-of-pocket costs associated with consultations and self-prescribed treatments have not been examined to date. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the extent of health care practitioner consultations and self-prescribed treatment for back pain care among Australian women, and to assess the self-reported costs associated with such usage. METHODS: Survey of 1,310 women (response rate 80.9%) who reported seeking help for back pain from the '1946-51 cohort' of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Women were asked about their use of health care practitioners and self-prescribed treatments for back pain and the costs associated with such usage. RESULTS: In the past year 76.4% consulted a complementary and alternative practitioner, 56% an allied health practitioner and 59.2% a GP/medical specialist. Overall, women consulted with, on average, 3.0 (SD = 2.0) different health care practitioners, and had, on average, 12.2 (SD = 9.7) discrete health care practitioner consultations for back pain. Average self-reported out-of-pocket expenditure on practitioners and self-prescribed treatments for back pain care per annum was AU$873.10. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple provider usage for various but distinct purposes (i.e. pain/mobility versus anxiety/stress) points to the need for further research into patient motivations and experiences of back pain care in order to improve and enhance access to and continuity of care. Our results suggest that the cost of back pain care represents a significant burden, and may ultimately limit women's access to multiple providers. We extrapolate that for Australian working-age women, total out-of-pocket expenditure on back pain care per annum is in excess of AU$1.4 billion, thus indicating the prominence of back pain as a major economic, social and health burden.

Project description:BACKGROUND: Aligned with the international call for universal coverage of affordable and quality health care, the government of Tajikistan is undertaking reforms of its health system aiming amongst others at reducing the out-of-pocket expenditures (OPE) of patients seeking care. Household surveys were conducted in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2011 to explore the scale and determinants of OPE of users in four district of Tajikistan, where health care is legally free of charge at the primary level. METHODS: Using the data from four cross-sectional household surveys conducted between 2005 and 2011, time trends in OPE for consultation fees, drugs and transport costs of adult users of family medicine services were analysed. To investigate differences along the economic status, an asset index was constructed using principal component analysis. RESULTS: Adjusted for inflation, OPE for primary care have substantially increased in the period 2005 to 2011. While the proportion of patients reporting the payment of informal consultation fees to providers and their amount were constant over time, the proportion of patients reporting expenditures for drugs has increased, and the median amounts have doubled from 5.3 US$ to 10.7 US$. Thus, the expenditures on medicine represent the biggest financial burden for patients accessing a primary care facility. Regression models showed that in 2011 patients from the most remote district with spread-out villages reported significant higher expenditures on medicine. Besides the steady increase in the median amount for OPE, the proportion of patients reporting making an informal payment to their care provider showed great variations across district of residence (between 20% and 73%) and economic status (between 33% among the 'worst-off' group and 68% among the 'better-off' group). CONCLUSIONS: In a context of limited governmental funds allocated to health and financing reforms aiming to improve financial access to primary care, the present paper indicates that in Tajikistan OPE - especially in relation to expenditures for drugs - have increased over time, and vary substantially across geographical areas and economic status. The fact that better-off households report disbursing more and in higher proportions hints towards a discrimination along the capacity to pay from providers. Increased public investments in the health sector, incentives for family doctors to provide PHC services free of charge and a strengthened drug control and supply system are necessary strategies to improve access of patients to services.

Dataset Information

Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures on Complementary Health Approaches Associated With Painful Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Adult Sample.

Publications

Out-Of-Pocket Expenditures on Complementary Health Approaches Associated With Painful Health Conditions in a Nationally Representative Adult Sample.

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