Strahan N D, Gandy M J
Mississippi State Department of Health, Jackson 39215, USA.
J Health Soc Policy. 1997;9(1):77-82. doi: 10.1300/J045v09n01_06.
In Mississippi it was not known where Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease Syndrome (AIDS) persons receive care, what type of care is available to them, and how care is financed. To ascertain inpatient treatment charges of HIV/AIDS patients, a medical record review was conducted at 10 priority hospitals distributed across Mississippi. One-hundred fifty-six (156) patient records were randomly selected from a population of persons with HIV/AIDS. A total of 3,865 patient days was recorded for all hospitals. Available overall hospital charges per paid day ranged from +401.63 to +1,261.34, with an average charge of +741.65 per day. Average length of stay was 25 days. Average charge per hospitalization per patient totaled +18,541. Concerning source of payment, 44.8% of the patients had private insurance, 29.9% listed Medicaid as their payment source, 7.8% were on Medicare, 1.3% had supplemental insurance, and 16.2% of patients reviewed had no payment source. Based on this review, it is evident that the number of AIDS patients covered by private health insurance will continue to decline and the payment responsibilities will continue to shift to public supported programs. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome brings attention to the weakness of Mississippi's health care financing system and will continue to force consideration of alternative financing mechanisms.
在密西西比州，人们并不清楚感染人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV）或患有获得性免疫缺陷综合征（AIDS）的患者在哪里接受治疗、能获得何种类型的治疗以及治疗费用如何支付。为确定HIV/AIDS患者的住院治疗费用，在密西西比州各地分布的10家重点医院进行了病历审查。从HIV/AIDS患者群体中随机抽取了156份患者病历。所有医院共记录了3865个患者住院日。各医院每日已支付的总费用从401.63美元到1261.34美元不等，平均每日费用为741.65美元。平均住院时间为25天。每位患者每次住院的平均费用总计为18541美元。关于支付来源，44.8%的患者有私人保险，29.9%将医疗补助列为支付来源，7.8%的患者参加了医疗保险，1.3%的患者有补充保险，接受审查的患者中有16.2%没有支付来源。基于此次审查，很明显，由私人医疗保险覆盖的艾滋病患者数量将继续下降，支付责任将继续转向公共支持项目。获得性免疫缺陷综合征凸显了密西西比州医疗保健融资系统的薄弱之处，并将继续促使人们考虑替代融资机制。
