Economic burden of long-term care of rheumatoid arthritis patients in Hungary

Zoltán Horváth, Andor Sebestyén, August Österle, Dóra Endrei, József Betlehem, András Oláh, László Imre, Gabriella Bagosi and Imre Boncz ()
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Zoltán Horváth: University of Pécs
Andor Sebestyén: University of Pécs
August Österle: Corvinus University of Budapest
Dóra Endrei: University of Pécs
József Betlehem: University of Pécs
András Oláh: University of Pécs
László Imre: National Institute for Quality- and Organizational Development in Healthcare and Medicines (GYEMSZI)
Gabriella Bagosi: National Institute for Quality- and Organizational Development in Healthcare and Medicines (GYEMSZI)
Imre Boncz: University of Pécs

The European Journal of Health Economics, 2014, vol. 15, issue 1, No 16, 135 pages

Abstract: Abstract Background and aim Long-term care (LTC) in Hungary is provided in four major ways: day care, nursing, chronic care, and rehabilitation. The aim of this study was to explore the financing of LTC in Hungary, with a disease-specific focus on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Data and methods Data were derived from the National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA). For 2012, we analyzed the following indicators: number of patients and cases, crude and weighted hospital days, and health insurance expenditure. Results The annual health insurance expenditure of LTC was 112.6 million EUR in Hungary in 2012 and covered 209,000 patients (225,000 cases). The NHIFA spent 0.69 million EUR for the LTC of 976 patients with RA. The annual health insurance cost per patient was significantly (by 32 %) higher for patients with RA (710 EUR) than the average cost of all patients (538 EUR). The average length of stay was also higher for patients with RA (19.7 days) than for the general LTC population (17.4 days). Conclusions The cost of LTC of patients with RA is higher than the average cost of the general LTC patient population. Early treatment of RA patients could contribute to decreasing LTC expenditure. More generally, health technology assessment can inform future LTC funding debates in Central and Eastern European countries by putting more emphasis on LTC utilization and costs.

Keywords: Health care financing; Long-term care; Health insurance; Rheumatoid arthritis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I13 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1007/s10198-014-0601-9

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