The cost of schizophrenia treatment in Taiwan.

The costs associated with mental illness in Taiwan have been the subject of discussion and concern in Taiwan's Bureau of National Health Insurance. The authors report the first estimates of these costs on the basis of national data for 52,432 patients treated in 1999. Total schizophrenia-related health care expenditure was estimated at 112.4 million dollars, which constituted 1.2 percent of national health care expenditures that year. The cost per outpatient visit was 57 dollars, the cost per admission was 1,123 dollars, and the annual average direct cost of treating a person with schizophrenia was 2,144 dollars.