Chronic Pain and Health Care Spending: An Analysis of Longitudinal Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

ObjectiveTo estimate average incremental health care expenditures associated with chronic pain by health care service category, expanding on prior research that focused on specific pain conditions instead of general pain, excluded low levels of pain, or did not incorporate pain duration.ConclusionsChronic pain limitations are associated with higher health care expenditures. Results underscore the substantial cost of pain to the health care system.     

Reducing Ex-offender Health Disparities through the Affordable Care Act: Fostering Improved Health Care Access and Linkages to Integrated Care

Despite steadily declining incarceration rates overall, racial and ethnic minorities, namely African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians and Alaska Natives, continue to be disproportionately represented in the justice system. Ex-offenders commonly reenter communities with pressing health conditions but encounter obstacles to accessing care and remaining in care. The lack of health insurance coverage and medical treatment emerge as the some of the most reported reentry health needs and may contribute to observed health disparities. Linking ex-offenders to care and services upon release increases the likelihood that they will remain in care and practice successful disease management. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers opportunities to address health disparities experienced by the reentry population that places them at risk for negative health outcomes and recidivism. Coordinated efforts to link ex-offenders with these newly available opportunities may result in a trajectory for positive health and overall well-being as they reintegrate into society.     

Health care utilization,cost burden and coping strategies by disability status: an analysis of the Viet Nam National Health Survey

There is a need for nationally representative information on the affordability of health care by disability status to assist in the design of equitable health systems in developing countries. Using the Viet Nam National Health Survey (2001–2002), this paper analyses health care utilization, cost burden and coping strategies for people with disabilities versus the population at large. The results clearly show that the disabled population are more prone to hospitalization, and spend more on inpatient stays and pharmaceuticals. Households with disabled members are at greater risk of catastrophic health expenditures and debt financing, posing a serious threat to economic welfare. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

社会医疗保险的医疗费用函数建模分析

由于疾病发生的随机性、医学技术进步和道德风险的影响,社会医疗保险在医疗费用的精算上存在着很大困难。以我国社会医疗保险患者中336万余次实际就诊记录的大样本数据资料为基础,通过显著性因子检验,建立了以工资收入、相对医疗费用指数、职工类别和性别为参数的医疗费用函数多元回归对数线性模型,并成功地应用于社会医疗保险基金运行过程的仿真分析之中,对于社会医疗保险的管理与决策具有重要的价值。     

America's Health Centers: Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Perinatal Care and Birth Outcomes

Objective. To examine whether community health centers (CHCs) reduce racial/ethnic disparities in perinatal care and birth outcomes, and to identify CHC characteristics associated with better outcomes.
Background. Despite great national wealth, the U.S. continues to rank poorly relative to other industrialized nations on infant mortality and other birth outcomes, and with wide inequities by race/ethnicity. Disparities in primary care (including perinatal care) may contribute to disparities in birth outcomes, which may be addressed by CHCs that provide safety-net medical services to vulnerable populations.
Methods. Data are from annual Uniform Data System reports submitted to the Bureau of Primary Health Care over six years (1996–2001) by about 700 CHCs each year.
Results. Across all years, about 60% of CHC mothers received first-trimester prenatal care and more than 70% received postpartum and newborn care. In 2001, Asian mothers were the most likely to receive both postpartum and newborn care (81.7% and 80.3%), followed by Hispanics (75.0% and 76.3%), blacks (70.8% and 69.9%), and whites (70.7% and 66.7%). In 2001, blacks had higher rates of low birth weight (LBW) babies (10.4%), but the disparity in rates for blacks and whites was smaller in CHCs (3.3 percentage points) compared to national disparities for low-socioeconomic status mothers (5.8 percentage points) and the total population (6.2 percentage points). In CHCs, greater perinatal care capacity was associated with higher rates of first-trimester prenatal care, which was associated with a lower LBW rate.
Conclusion. Racial/ethnic disparities in certain prenatal services and birth outcomes may be lower in CHCs compared to the general population, despite serving higher-risk groups. Within CHCs, increasing first-trimester prenatal care use through perinatal care capacity may lead to further improvement in birth outcomes for the underserved.     

基层医疗保健机构孕产妇保健服务利用现状与相关因素分析

目的 探究影响孕产妇利用保健服务的相关因素,并结合地区实际,提出了相关建议和措施.方法 对在我院进行保健服务的1558名孕产妇进行调查分析,结合实际情况用SPSS 18.0统计学软件进行系统分析.结果 文化程度、家庭年收入水平、居住地距离、职业和医保等因素对孕产妇保健服务利用影响较大;同时,在1 558名受访者中,接受孕前保健指导的比率相对较低,早孕检查、5次以上产检率和住院分娩率结果相对较高,说明近几年来孕产妇对保健服务利用的意识有所提高,但产后访视比例仅为21.76％,比例较低.结论 针对当前现状,研究认为,个人、基层医疗保健机构及卫生管理部门等各方应当分别在提高认识水平、提高服务水平及加强基层系统建设等方面进行改善,以提高孕产妇保健服务的利用,提高优生优育水平.     

Measuring Racial/Ethnic Disparities across the Distribution of Health Care Expenditures

Objective. To assess whether black–white and Hispanic–white disparities increase or abate in the upper quantiles of total health care expenditure, conditional on covariates.
Data Source. Nationally representative adult population of non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, and Hispanics from the 2001–2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys.
Study Design. We examine unadjusted racial/ethnic differences across the distribution of expenditures. We apply quantile regression to measure disparities at the median, 75th, 90th, and 95th quantiles, testing for differences over the distribution of health care expenditures and across income and education categories. We test the sensitivity of the results to comparisons based only on health status and estimate a two-part model to ensure that results are not driven by an extremely skewed distribution of expenditures with a large zero mass.
Principal Findings. Black–white and Hispanic–white disparities diminish in the upper quantiles of expenditure, but expenditures for blacks and Hispanics remain significantly lower than for whites throughout the distribution. For most education and income categories, disparities exist at the median and decline, but remain significant even with increased education and income.
Conclusions. Blacks and Hispanics receive significantly disparate care at high expenditure levels, suggesting prioritization of improved access to quality care among minorities with critical health issues.     

流动人口孕产妇保健服务利用现状调查

目的了解流动人口孕产妇女保健服务利用现状,提出促进流动人口孕产妇女保健服务利用的建议。方法在北京和杭州两市流动人口聚集区,对1 446例流动孕产妇女进行问卷调查。结果43.3%的流动孕产妇女建立了孕产妇保健档案,5次及以上产前检查率为59.5%,住院分娩率为86.9%,产后访视率为11.6%。结论流动人口对孕产期保健服务利用率低,需要通过加强流动人口孕产妇管理、健康教育、打击非法接生,来促进流动人口接受孕产期保健服务。     

Addressing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Using Federal Data to Support Local Programs to Eliminate Disparities

To reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care, managers, policy makers, and researchers need valid and reliable data on the race and ethnicity of individuals and populations. The federal government is one of the most important sources of such data. In this paper we review the strengths and weaknesses of federal data that pertain to racial and ethnic disparities in health care. We describe recent developments that are likely to influence how these data can be used in the future and discuss how local programs could make use of these data.     

The Role of Stigma in Access to Health Care for the Poor

Context

The Affordable Care Act provides new Medicaid coverage to an estimated 12 million low-income adults. Barriers to access or quality could hamper the program''s success. One of these barriers might be the stigma associated with Medicaid or poverty.

Methods

Our mixed-methods study involved 574 low-income adults and included data from an in-person survey and follow-up interviews. Our analysis of the interviews showed that many participants who were on Medicaid or uninsured described a perception or fear of being treated poorly in the health care setting. We defined this experience as stigma and merged our qualitative interviews coded for stigma with our quantitative survey data to see whether stigma was related to other sociodemographic characteristics. We also examined whether stigma was associated with access to care, quality of care, and self-reported health.

Findings

We were unable to identify other sociodemographic characteristics associated with stigma in this low-income sample. The qualitative interviews suggested that stigma was most often the result of a provider-patient interaction that felt demeaning, rather than an internalized sense of shame related to receiving public insurance or charity care. An experience of stigma was associated with unmet health needs, poorer perceptions of quality of care, and worse health across several self-reported measures.

Conclusions

Because a stigmatizing experience in the health system might interfere with the delivery of high-quality care to new Medicaid enrollees, further research and policy interventions that target stigma are warranted.