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Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Costs in the Last Year of Life Among Decedents Utilizing the ICU.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:Use of intensive care is increasing in the United States and may be associated with high financial burden on patients and their families near the end of life. Our objective was to estimate out-of-pocket costs in the last year of life for individuals who required intensive care in the months prior to death and examine how these costs vary by insurance coverage. DESIGN:Observational cohort study using seven waves of post-death interview data (2002-2014). PARTICIPANTS:Decedents (n = 2,909) who spent time in the ICU at some point between their last interview and death. INTERVENTIONS:None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Two-part models were used to estimate out-of-pocket costs for direct medical care and health-related services by type of care and insurance coverage. Decedents with only traditional Medicare fee-for-service coverage have the highest out-of-pocket spending in the last year of life, estimated at $12,668 (95% CI, $9,744-15,592), second to only the uninsured. Medicare Advantage and private insurance provide slightly more comprehensive coverage. Individuals who spend-down to Medicaid coverage have 4× the out-of-pocket spending as those continuously on Medicaid. CONCLUSIONS:Across all categories of insurance coverage, out-of-pocket spending in the last 12 months of life is high and represents a significant portion of assets for many patients requiring intensive care and their families. Medicare fee-for-service alone does not insulate individuals from the financial burden of high-intensity care, due to lack of an out-of-pocket maximum and a relatively high co-payment for hospitalizations. Medicaid plays an important role in the social safety net, providing the most complete hospital coverage of all the insurance groups, as well as significantly financing long-term care.

SUBMITTER: Khandelwal N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6522316 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Costs in the Last Year of Life Among Decedents Utilizing the ICU.

Khandelwal Nita N White Lindsay L Curtis J Randall JR Coe Norma B NB

Critical care medicine 20190601 6

<h4>Objectives</h4>Use of intensive care is increasing in the United States and may be associated with high financial burden on patients and their families near the end of life. Our objective was to estimate out-of-pocket costs in the last year of life for individuals who required intensive care in the months prior to death and examine how these costs vary by insurance coverage.<h4>Design</h4>Observational cohort study using seven waves of post-death interview data (2002-2014).<h4>Participants</ ...[more]

PMID: 30889026

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Project description:BackgroundMedical care of cancer patients at the end-of-life is costly. This study aims to describe the monthly trends of EOL medical care, drug therapy, and chemotherapy costs per patient with cancer in the last year of life in the inpatients vs. outpatient setting for the 13 most prevalent cancers in Korea.MethodsUsing the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) database, we identified the patients who had been treated for the primary diagnoses of one of the 13 most prevalent cancers in Korea and died between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2015. We calculated the mean monthly costs of medical care, drug therapy, and chemotherapy per patient in the last year of life by cancer site and patient setting (inpatient vs. outpatient).ResultsFor most cancers, the monthly inpatient costs per patient remain stable or increased gradually from 12 months to 3 months prior to death and then increased steeply from 2 months prior to death. The mean monthly inpatient costs per patient were highest for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) throughout the last year of life; all solid tumors had similar trends of monthly inpatient costs. The mean monthly inpatient costs for AML increased from $5,465 (SD, $5,248) in 12 months prior to death to $15,033 (SD, $11,864) in the last month. The monthly outpatient costs per patient showed similar, gradually decreasing trends for most cancers. The mean outpatient costs were highest for kidney cancer; the costs sharply decreased from $954 (SD, $1,346) in 12 months prior to death to $424 (SD, $736) in the last month. The proportion of inpatients receiving chemotherapy in the last month of life was highest for AML (77%), followed by liver cancer (67%) and breast cancer (56%).ConclusionThe monthly inpatient medical care costs per patient with cancer increased as the patient approached death, while the monthly outpatient costs decreased. A considerable proportion of inpatient received chemotherapy in the last month of life. Efforts are needed to optimize EOL care for cancer patients.

Project description:ImportanceThe financial burden of a cancer diagnosis is increasing rapidly with advances in cancer care. Simultaneously, more individuals are enrolling in high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) vs traditional insurance than ever before.ObjectiveTo characterize the out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs) of cancer care for individuals in HDHPs vs traditional insurance plans.Design, setting, and participantsThis retrospective cohort study used the administrative claims data of a single national insurer in the US for 134 826 patients aged 18 to 63 years with a new diagnosis of breast, colorectal, lung, or other cancer from 2008 to 2018 with 24 months or more of continuous enrollment. Propensity score matching was performed to create comparator groups based on the presence or absence of an incident cancer diagnosis.ExposuresA new cancer diagnosis and enrollment in an HDHP vs a traditional health insurance plan.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was OOPCs among individuals with breast, colon, lung, or all other types of cancer combined compared with those with no cancer diagnosis. A triple difference-in-differences analysis was performed to identify incremental OOPCs based on cancer diagnosis and enrollment in HDHPs vs traditional plans.ResultsAfter propensity score matching, 134 826 patients remained in each of the cancer (73 572 women [55%]; median age, 53 years [IQR, 46-58 years]; 110 071 non-Hispanic White individuals [82%]) and noncancer (66 619 women [49%]; median age, 53 years [IQR, 46-59 years]; 105 023 non-Hispanic White individuals [78%]) cohorts. Compared with baseline costs of medical care among individuals without cancer, a breast cancer diagnosis was associated with the highest incremental OOPC ($714.68; 95% CI, $664.91-$764.45), followed by lung ($475.51; 95% CI, $340.16-$610.86), colorectal ($361.41; 95% CI, $294.34-$428.48), and all other types of cancer combined ($90.51; 95% CI, $74.22-$106.79). Based on the triple difference-in-differences analysis, compared with patients without cancer enrolled in HDHPs, those with breast cancer paid $1683.36 in additional yearly OOPCs (95% CI, $1576.66-$1790.07), those with colorectal cancer paid $1420.06 more (95% CI, $1232.31-$1607.80), those with lung cancer paid $467.25 more (95% CI, $130.13-$804.37), and those with other types of cancer paid $550.87 more (95% CI, $514.75-$586.99).Conclusions and relevancePatients with cancer and private insurance experienced sharp increases in OOPCs compared with those without cancer, which was amplified among those with HDHPs. These findings illustrate the degree to which HDHPs offer poorer protection than traditional insurance against unexpected health care expenses. Coupled with the increasing cost of cancer care, higher cost sharing in the form of increasing enrollment in HDHPs requires further research on the potential clinical consequences through delayed or foregone care.

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Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Costs in the Last Year of Life Among Decedents Utilizing the ICU.

Publications

Health Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Costs in the Last Year of Life Among Decedents Utilizing the ICU.

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