Business School, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Santiago 7941169, Chile.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jun 23;18(13):6746. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18136746.
Medical care for children with cancer is complex and expensive, and represents a large financial burden for families around the world. We estimated the medical cost of cancer care for children under the age of 18, using administrative records of the universe of children with private insurance in Chile in the period 2007-2018, based on a sample of 3853 observations. We analyzed total cost and out-of-pocket spending by patients' characteristics, type of cancer, and by service. Children with cancer had high annual medical costs, USD 32,287 on average for 2018. Costs were higher for the younger children in the sample. The vast majority of the cost was driven by inpatient hospital care for all types of cancer. The average total cost increased 20% in real terms over the period of study, while out-of-pocket expenses increased almost 29%. Private insurance beneficiaries faced a significant economic burden associated with medical treatment of a child with cancer. Interventions that reduce hospitalizations, as well as systemwide reforms that incorporate maximum out-of-pocket payments and prevent catastrophic expenditures, can contribute to alleviating the financial burden of childhood cancer.
儿童癌症的医疗护理复杂且昂贵，对全球各地的家庭来说都是一个巨大的经济负担。我们利用智利私人保险范围内的儿童行政记录，根据 2007-2018 年期间的一个 3853 个观测值样本，对 18 岁以下儿童癌症护理的医疗费用进行了估算。我们根据患者特征、癌症类型和服务类型分析了总费用和自付费用。癌症患儿的年医疗费用很高，2018 年平均为 32287 美元。样本中年龄较小的儿童费用更高。绝大多数费用是由所有类型癌症的住院治疗引起的。在研究期间，总费用实际增长了 20%，而自付费用增长了近 29%。私人保险受益人为儿童癌症的治疗带来了巨大的经济负担。减少住院治疗的干预措施以及纳入最高自付额和防止灾难性支出的全系统改革，可以有助于减轻儿童癌症的经济负担。
