Rudholm Niklas
Department of Economics, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden.
Scand J Public Health. 2005;33(1):50-6. doi: 10.1080/14034940410028325.
The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of pharmaceutical insurance on the demand for prescription pharmaceuticals in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. As the patients do not bear the full marginal costs of the pharmaceuticals they consume when pharmaceutical insurance systems are present, this could induce patients to over-consume pharmaceutical treatments.
Data covering all prescription pharmaceuticals sold in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden during the year 2001 have been provided by the local county council. Data include information concerning the gender and age of the patient, the number of defined daily doses, total cost, and the patient's co-payment for the prescription. The hypothesis that patients will consume more (or perhaps more expensive) pharmaceuticals when there is pharmaceutical insurance is tested by means of regression analysis.
The results show that both the quantities dispensed and the price of the pharmaceuticals consumed increase when the pharmaceutical insurance system pays part of the total cost of the pharmaceuticals consumed.
The findings suggest that introducing a small patient co-payment for all prescriptions should be an effective measure to decrease pharmaceutical consumption.
本文旨在分析药品保险对瑞典韦斯特博滕县处方药需求的影响。由于存在药品保险制度时患者并不承担其所用药品的全部边际成本，这可能会促使患者过度消费药物治疗。
瑞典韦斯特博滕县地方议会提供了2001年该县销售的所有处方药的数据。数据包括患者的性别和年龄、限定日剂量数、总成本以及患者的处方自付费用。通过回归分析检验了药品保险存在时患者会消费更多（或可能更昂贵）药品这一假设。
结果表明，当药品保险制度支付所消费药品总成本的一部分时，所配药品数量和所消费药品价格都会增加。
研究结果表明，对所有处方引入少量患者自付费用应是减少药品消费的有效措施。
