The impact of medical insurance policies on the hospitalization services utilization of people with schizophrenia: A case study in Changsha, China

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of two medical insurers' policies on the hospitalization of people with schizophrenia and the economic burden they faced during a period of rapid health services reform in China. METHODOLOGY A comparative analysis was made of Urban Employee-Basic Medical Insurance (UE-BMI) and Urban Residents-Basic Medical Insurance (UR-BMI) policies on the medical management of schizophrenics, and was compared with hospitalization expenses, insurer reimbursement data and other information collected from the HMO (health maintenance organization) and social insurance agencies on the care of people with schizophrenia in Changsha in 2010. In-depth interviews were also conducted with relevant managers. RESULTS Compared with inpatients covered by UR-BMI, the inpatients of UE-BMI were admitted to higher level medical institutions and were prescribed expensive second generation antipsychotics (SGA) medicines. Nevertheless, the hospitalization service utilization and cost of inpatients' hospitalization under UE-BMI were far less than that of inpatients under UR-BMI. CONCLUSIONS The insurance level difference between two medical insurance schemes influences the treatment regimens and benefits received by patients. Furthermore, the integration of schizophrenia management into the outpatient services pooling fund for special diseases(OS-PFSD) can appropriately reduce hospitalization utilization, which, together with the payment way reform and the prescription of reasonable medications, can significantly reduce the overall hospitalization cost for patients.