Absence of appropriate hospitalization cost control for patients with medical insurance: a comparative analysis study.
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Pan
Xilong
X
Peking University Health Science Center, Health Policy and Management Department, School of Public Health, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Dib
Hassan H
HH
Zhu
Minmin
M
Zhang
Ying
Y
Fan
Yang
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002681:China; D003363:Cost Control; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012923:Social Class; D055815:Young Adult