title: Health care expenditures associated with venous thromboembolism among children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We used health insurance claims data from large samples of Medicaid-enrolled and privately insured children to identify children with venous thromboembolism (VTE) and to assess their use of health services and associated expenditures during 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the 2009 Thomson Reuters MarketScan® Commercial Database and Multi-State Medicaid database were used to estimate annual expenditures for children 1-17 years of age with VTE. Generalized linear models were used to calculate adjusted annual expenditures for Medicaid-enrolled and privately insured children with VTE, controlling for age, sex, type of health plan, VTE classification (deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism), and type of VTE event (idiopathic or secondary) and race (Medicaid only) or region (Commercial only).
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 2009, Medicaid-enrolled and privately insured children with VTE had an average of 1-2 inpatient admissions and 8-10 non-emergency department visits. Unadjusted mean total expenditures were similar for Medicaid-enrolled and privately insured children with VTE, $105,359 and $87,767, respectively. Adjusted mean expenditures for children with secondary VTE were five times higher than for children with idiopathic VTE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the high frequency of secondary VTE in children, most of the associated expenditures may be due to other health conditions. However, children who develop a VTE incur substantial costs of care, even in the absence of related conditions. Additional research is needed to evaluate the long term outcomes for children with VTE including rates of readmission, complications, and the impact of co-morbid conditions.
authors.affiliation: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. sbu1@cdc.gov
authors.forename: Sheree L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Boulet
authors.forename: Djesika
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amendah
authors.forename: Scott D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Grosse
authors.forename: W Craig
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hooper
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000191:economics; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000191:economics*