Association between health insurance cost-sharing and choice of hospital tier for cardiovascular diseases in China : a prospective cohort study

© 2024 The Authors..

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.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:45

Enthalten in:

The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific - 45(2024) vom: 12. März, Seite 101020

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Levy, Muriel [VerfasserIn]
Buckell, John [VerfasserIn]
Clarke, Robert [VerfasserIn]
Wu, Nina [VerfasserIn]
Pei, Pei [VerfasserIn]
Sun, Dianjianyi [VerfasserIn]
Avery, Daniel [VerfasserIn]
Zhang, Hua [VerfasserIn]
Lv, Jun [VerfasserIn]
Yu, Canqing [VerfasserIn]
Li, Liming [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Zhengming [VerfasserIn]
Yip, Winnie [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Yiping [VerfasserIn]
Mihaylova, Borislava [VerfasserIn]
China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Collaborative Group [VerfasserIn]
Chen, Junshi [Sonstige Person]
Chen, Zhengming [Sonstige Person]
Clarke, Robert [Sonstige Person]
Collins, Rory [Sonstige Person]
Li, Liming [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Chen [Sonstige Person]
Lv, Jun [Sonstige Person]
Peto, Richard [Sonstige Person]
Walters, Robin [Sonstige Person]
Avery, Daniel [Sonstige Person]
Barnard, Maxim [Sonstige Person]
Bennett, Derrick [Sonstige Person]
Boxall, Ruth [Sonstige Person]
Chan, Kahung [Sonstige Person]
Chen, Yiping [Sonstige Person]
Chen, Zhengming [Sonstige Person]
Clarke, Johnathan [Sonstige Person]
Clarke, Robert [Sonstige Person]
Du, Huaidong [Sonstige Person]
Mohamed, Ahmed Edris [Sonstige Person]
Fry, Hannah [Sonstige Person]
Gilbert, Simon [Sonstige Person]
Im, Pek Kei [Sonstige Person]
Iona, Andri [Sonstige Person]
Kakkoura, Maria [Sonstige Person]
Kartsonaki, Christiana [Sonstige Person]
Lam, Hubert [Sonstige Person]
Lin, Kuang [Sonstige Person]
Liu, James [Sonstige Person]
Mazidi, Mohsen [Sonstige Person]
Millwood, Iona [Sonstige Person]
Morris, Sam [Sonstige Person]
Nie, Qunhua [Sonstige Person]
Pozaricki, Alfred [Sonstige Person]
Ryder, Paul [Sonstige Person]
Said, Saredo [Sonstige Person]
Schmidt, Dan [Sonstige Person]
Stevens, Becky [Sonstige Person]
Turnbull, Iain [Sonstige Person]
Walters, Robin [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Baihan [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Lin [Sonstige Person]
Wright, Neil [Sonstige Person]
Yang, Ling [Sonstige Person]
Yang, Xiaoming [Sonstige Person]
Yao, Pang [Sonstige Person]
Han, Xiao [Sonstige Person]
Hou, Can [Sonstige Person]
Xia, Qingmei [Sonstige Person]
Liu, Chao [Sonstige Person]
Lv, Jun [Sonstige Person]
Pei, Pei [Sonstige Person]
Sun, Dianjianyi [Sonstige Person]
Yu, Canqing [Sonstige Person]
Chen, Naying [Sonstige Person]
Liu, Duo [Sonstige Person]
Tang, Zhenzhu [Sonstige Person]
Chen, Ningyu [Sonstige Person]
Jiang, Qilian [Sonstige Person]
Lan, Jian [Sonstige Person]
Li, Mingqiang [Sonstige Person]
Liu, Yun [Sonstige Person]
Meng, Fanwen [Sonstige Person]
Meng, Jinhuai [Sonstige Person]
Pan, Rong [Sonstige Person]
Qin, Yulu [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Ping [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Sisi [Sonstige Person]
Wei, Liuping [Sonstige Person]
Zhou, Liyuan [Sonstige Person]
Dong, Caixia [Sonstige Person]
Ge, Pengfei [Sonstige Person]
Ren, Xiaolan [Sonstige Person]
Li, Zhongxiao [Sonstige Person]
Mao, Enke [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Tao [Sonstige Person]
Zhang, Hui [Sonstige Person]
Zhang, Xi [Sonstige Person]
Chen, Jinyan [Sonstige Person]
Hu, Ximin [Sonstige Person]
Wang, Xiaohuan [Sonstige Person]
Guo, Zhendong [Sonstige Person]
Li, Huimei [Sonstige Person]
Li, Yilei [Sonstige Person]
Weng, Min [Sonstige Person]
Wu, Shukuan [Sonstige Person]
Yan, Shichun [Sonstige Person]
Zou, Mingyuan [Sonstige Person]
Zhou, Xue [Sonstige Person]
Guo, Ziyan [Sonstige Person]
Kang, Quan [Sonstige Person]
Li, Yanjie [Sonstige Person]
Yu, Bo [Sonstige Person]
Xu, Qinai [Sonstige Person]
Chang, Liang [Sonstige Person]
Fan, Lei [Sonstige Person]
Feng, Shixian [Sonstige Person]
Zhang, Ding [Sonstige Person]
Zhou, Gang [Sonstige Person]
Gao, Yulian [Sonstige Person]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Cardiovascular diseases
China
Healthcare seeking behaviour
Hospital type
Journal Article

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 20.03.2024

published: Electronic-eCollection

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101020

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM368702618