Xilong Pan1, Hassan H Dib, Minmin Zhu, Ying Zhang, Yang Fan. 1. Peking University Health Science Center, Health Policy and Management Department, School of Public Health, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Expose the weak loops in the Chinese medical insurance coverage and uncover hospitals' role of over-pricing hospitalized insured patients compared with those non-insured. METHODS: A multi-linear regression method was used to analyze hospitalization expense for insured and uninsured patients with uncomplicated acute appendicitis, cholecystitis, benign uterine tumors, and normal delivery. RESULTS: Hospitalization cost is higher among insured than uninsured patients due to longer hospitalization lengths of stay, type of disease (highest among cholecystitis patients), type of gender - females, old-aged people, and type of marital status - singles, as well as drugs expenses, surgical expenses, and other medical acts. CONCLUSION: Require a better government's supervision system over medical insurance expenses such as reforming methods of payments, building up new cost compensation mechanism, and unifying and stabilizing prices for each category of medicines.
OBJECTIVE: Expose the weak loops in the Chinese medical insurance coverage and uncover hospitals' role of over-pricing hospitalized insured patients compared with those non-insured. METHODS: A multi-linear regression method was used to analyze hospitalization expense for insured and uninsured patients with uncomplicated acute appendicitis, cholecystitis, benign uterine tumors, and normal delivery. RESULTS: Hospitalization cost is higher among insured than uninsured patients due to longer hospitalization lengths of stay, type of disease (highest among cholecystitispatients), type of gender - females, old-aged people, and type of marital status - singles, as well as drugs expenses, surgical expenses, and other medical acts. CONCLUSION: Require a better government's supervision system over medical insurance expenses such as reforming methods of payments, building up new cost compensation mechanism, and unifying and stabilizing prices for each category of medicines.