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Hengel P, Blümel M, Siegel M, Achstetter K, Köppen J, Busse R. Financial risk protection in private health insurance: empirical evidence on catastrophic and impoverishing spending from Germany's dual insurance system. HEALTH ECONOMICS, POLICY, AND LAW 2024; 19:3-20. [PMID: 37675511 DOI: 10.1017/s1744133123000105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Financial risk protection from high costs for care is a main goal of health systems. Health system characteristics typically associated with universal health coverage and financial risk protection, such as financial redistribution between insureds, are inherent to, e.g. social health insurance (SHI) but missing in private health insurance (PHI). This study provides evidence on financial protection in PHI for the case of Germany's dual insurance system of PHI and SHI, where PHI covers 11% of the population. Linked survey and claims data of PHI insureds (n = 3105) and population-wide household budget data (n = 42,226) are used to compute the prevalence of catastrophic health expenditures (CHE), i.e. the share of households whose out-of-pocket payments either exceed 40% of their capacity-to-pay or push them (further) into poverty. Despite comparatively high out-of-pocket payments, CHE is low in German PHI. It only affects the poor. Key to low financial burden seems to be the restriction of PHI to a small, overall wealthy group. Protection for the worse-off is provided through special mandatorily offered tariffs. In sum, Germany's dual health insurance system provides close-to-universal coverage. Future studies should further investigate the effect of premiums on financial burden, especially when linked to utilisation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Hengel
- Department of Health Care Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Miriam Blümel
- Department of Health Care Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Siegel
- Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research, Berlin, Germany
- Department of Empirical Health Economics, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
| | - Katharina Achstetter
- Department of Health Care Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Julia Köppen
- Department of Health Care Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research, Berlin, Germany
| | - Reinhard Busse
- Department of Health Care Management, Technische Universität Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Centre for Health Economics Research, Berlin, Germany
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Bazazzadeh S, Sharbafchi MR, Naeini MK, Hosseini SM, Atapour A, Mortazavi M. Evaluation of factors related to depression in peritoneal dialysis patients: a multicenter cross-sectional study. RENAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY 2023. [DOI: 10.1186/s41100-023-00468-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is serious global public health challenge in many developing countries. Treatment of ESRD is carried out through renal replacement therapy like peritoneal dialysis (PD). Depression is the most common mood disorder which has a strong impact on the quality of life in patients with ESRD. Little is known about the prevalence and risk factors of depression in peritoneal dialysis patients.
Method and materials
A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted on 164 adult ESRD patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis for at least three months who referred to the peritoneal dialysis centers of Al-Zahra, Noor & Ali Asghar hospitals, Isfahan, Iran from May to August 2019. Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition questionnaire was used to measure the symptoms of depression and its severity.
Results
43.5% of patients had some levels of depression. Assessing the association of depression with demographic and PD-related factors showed that there was no significant difference regarding age, BMI, dialysis adequacy and residual kidney function, dialysis frequency, type of dialysis solution used, disease duration, and age at the start of dialysis. Ordinal logistics regression analysis showed significant association between depression severity categories and gender (OR = 0.397, CI: 0.160–0.985, p = 0.046), marital status (OR = 2.983, CI: 1.180–7.541, p = 0.021), having a separate room for dialysis (OR = 2.511, CI: 1.108–5.692, p = 0.027).
Conclusion
As our findings have revealed 43.5% of our participants suffered from mild-to-severe depression, we suggest careful attention and routine evaluation for depression in PD patients, especially women and single patients and those who have low socioeconomic status.
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