The Public Health Insurance Coverage of Novel Targeted Anticancer Medicines in China—In Favor of Whom? A Retrospective Analysis of the Insurance Claim Data

Objectives: This study took Fuzhou city as a case, described how the public health insurance coverage policy in 2016 of novel anti-lung cancer medicines benefited patients, and who benefited the most from the policy in China.Methods: This was a retrospective study based on health insurance claim data with a longitudinal analysis of the level and trend changes of the monthly number of patients to initiate treatment with the novel targeted anti-lung cancer medicines gefitinib and icotinib before and after health insurance coverage. The study also conducted a multivariate linear regression analysis to predict the potential determinants of the share of patient out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure for lung cancer treatment with the study medicines.Results: The monthly number of the insured patients in Fuzhou who initiated the treatment with the studied novel targeted anti-lung cancer medication abruptly increased by 26 in the month of the health insurance coverage (95% CI: 14–37, p < 0.01) and kept at an increasing level afterward (p < 0.01). By controlling the other factors, the shares of OOP expenditure for lung cancer treatment of the patients who were formal employee program enrollees not entitled to government-funded supplementary health insurance coverage and resident program enrollees were 18.3% (95% CI: 14.1–22.6) and 26.7% (95% CI: 21.0–32.4) higher than that of the patients who were formal employee program enrollees with government-funded supplementary health insurance coverage.Conclusion: The public health insurance coverage of novel anti-lung cancer medicines benefited patients generally. To enable that patients benefit from this policy more equally and thoroughly, in order to achieve the policy goal of not to leave anyone behind, it is necessary to strengthen the benefits package of the resident program and to optimize the current financing mechanism of the public health insurance system.

Household catastrophic health expenditure and its effective factors: a case of Iran

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) has placed special emphasis on protecting households from health care expenditures. Many households face catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) from a combination of economic poverty and financing the treatment of medical conditions. The present study aimed to measure the percentage of households facing catastrophic CHEs and the factors associated with the occurrence of CHEs in Shiraz, Iran in 2018. Methods The present cross-sectional study was performed on 740 randomly selected households from different districts of Shiraz, Iran in 2018 using a multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected using the Persian version of the “WHO Global Health Survey” questionnaire. CHEs were defined as health expenditures exceeding 40% of households’ capacity to pay. Households living below the poverty line before paying for health services were excluded from the study. The associations between the households’ characteristics and facing CHEs were determined using the Chi-Square test as well as multiple logistic regression modeling in SPSS 23.0 at the significance level of 5%. Results The results showed that 16.48% of studied households had faced CHEs. The higher odds of facing CHEs were observed in the households living in rented houses (OR = 3.14, P-value < 0.001), households with disabled members (OR = 27.98, P-value < 0.001), households with children under 5 years old (OR = 2.718, P-value = 0.02), and those without supplementary health insurance coverage (OR = 1.87, P-value = 0.01). Conclusion CHEs may be reduced by increasing the use of supplementary health insurance coverage by individuals and households, increasing the support of the Social Security and the State Welfare Organizations for households with disabled members, developing programs such as the Integrated Child Care Programs, and setting home rental policies and housing policies for tenants.

El papel de la AEF-Brasil en la ejecución de la Estrategia Nacional

Convinced of the importance of financial education to the solidity of the financial system and the quality of life of Brazilian society, four institutions representing the financial market instituted AEF-Brasil in 2012, geared towards elevating this cause to the level of the most pressing causes in Brazil. They are: ANBIMA (Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association),B3 (Brazil Stock Exchange and Over-the-Counter Market), CNSeg (National Confederation of Companies of General Insurance, Private Pension, Life, Supplementary Health Insurance, and Capitalization Insurance) and FEBRABAN (Brazilian Federation of Banks). Allowing financial education to reach every Brazilian means leveraging equal opportunities for autonomous and healthy financial decisions in their lives, thereby bolstering citizenship. By developing these projects, AEF-Brasil has contributed and continues to contribute to social and economic development and, especially, to the exercise of full citizenship and the practice of democracy.

The role of AEF-Brasil in the execution of the National Strategy for Financial Education

Convinced of the importance of financial education to the solidity of the financial system and the quality of life of Brazilian society, four institutions representing the financial market instituted AEF-Brasil in 2012, geared towards elevating this cause to the level of the most pressing causes in Brazil. They are: ANBIMA (Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association),B3 (Brazil Stock Exchange and Over-the-Counter Market), CNSeg (National Confederation of Companies of General Insurance, Private Pension, Life, Supplementary Health Insurance, and Capitalization Insurance) and FEBRABAN (Brazilian Federation of Banks). Allowing financial education to reach every Brazilian means leveraging equal opportunities for autonomous and healthy financial decisions in their lives, thereby bolstering citizenship. By developing these projects, AEF-Brasil has contributed and continues to contribute to social and economic development and, especially, to the exercise of full citizenship and the practice of democracy.

O papel da AEF-Brasil na Estratégia Nacional de Educação Financeira

Convinced of the importance of financial education to the solidity of the financial system and the quality of life of Brazilian society, four institutions representing the financial market instituted AEF-Brasil in 2012, geared towards elevating this cause to the level of the most pressing causes in Brazil. They are: ANBIMA (Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association),B3 (Brazil Stock Exchange and Over-the-Counter Market), CNSeg (National Confederation of Companies of General Insurance, Private Pension, Life, Supplementary Health Insurance, and Capitalization Insurance) and FEBRABAN (Brazilian Federation of Banks). Allowing financial education to reach every Brazilian means leveraging equal opportunities for autonomous and healthy financial decisions in their lives, thereby bolstering citizenship. By developing these projects, AEF-Brasil has contributed and continues to contribute to social and economic development and, especially, to the exercise of full citizenship and the practice of democracy.

Household Catastrophic Health Expenditure and Its Effective Factors: A Case of Iran

Background:The World Health Organization (WHO) has placed special emphasis on protecting households from health care expenditures. Many households face catastrophic health expenditures (CHEs) from a combination of economic poverty and financing the treatment of medical conditions. The present study aimed to measure the percentage of households facing catastrophic CHEs and the factors associated with the occurrence of CHEs in Shiraz, Iran in 2018.Methods:The present cross-sectional study was performed on 740 randomly selected households from different districts of Shiraz, Iran in 2018 using a multi-stage sampling method. Data were collected using the Persian version of the "WHO Global Health Survey” questionnaire. CHEs were defined as health expenditures exceeding 40% of households’ capacity to pay. The associations between the households’ characteristics and facing CHEs were determined using the Chi-Square test as well as multiple logistic regression modelling in SPSS 23.0 at the significance level of 5%. Results:The results showed that 16.48% of studied households had faced CHEs. The higher odds of facing CHEs were observed in the households living in rented houses (OR=3.14, P-value<0.001), households with disabled members (OR=27.98, P-value<0.001), households with children under 5 years old (OR=2.718, P-value=0.02), and those without supplementary health insurance coverage (OR=1.87, P-value=0.01).Conclusion:CHEs may be reduced by increasing the use of supplementary health insurance coverage by individuals and households, increasing the support of the Social Security and the State Welfare Organizations for households with disabled members, developing programs such as the Integrated Child Care Programs, and setting home rental policies and housing policies for tenants.