TY - JOUR
T1 - Cost-sharing reduction and health service utilisation, health-related lifestyles, and obesity
T2 - evidence from the Australian health concession card policy
AU - Zhou, Qin
AU - Du, Wei
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background: The Australian Health Concession Card (HCC) policy aims to improve access to affordable health services and medicines by providing reduced patient cost-sharing. This study explored the association between HCC holding and health service utilisation, as well as health-related lifestyles and obesity in Australian adults. Methods: The Australian National Health Survey data were used to derive three sets of study outcomes. Multivariable generalised linear regression models were used to estimate the association between concessional status and study outcomes after controlling for socio-demographic factors. Results: HCC holders, compared to their non-concessional counterparts, had more visits to GPs (1.01, 95% CI: 0.74-1.30), specialists (0.23, 95% CI: 0.02-0.44), outpatient clinics (0.19, 95% CI: 0.06-0.31), and had more hospital admissions (0.04, 95% CI: -0.05-0.91). There was no significant difference in visits to doctors and health professionals about mental health problems among HCC holders and their counterparts. Moreover, less HCC holders consumed alcohol on ≥3 days a week (OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.59-0.93) and had less of an alcohol risk that exceeded the 2001 alcohol guidelines (0.83, 95% CI: 0.69-0.99). Conclusions: This study revealed evidence that reduced patient cost-sharing provided by HCC policy was positively correlated with more health service utilisation after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics. Strategies to prioritise resources are necessary.
AB - Background: The Australian Health Concession Card (HCC) policy aims to improve access to affordable health services and medicines by providing reduced patient cost-sharing. This study explored the association between HCC holding and health service utilisation, as well as health-related lifestyles and obesity in Australian adults. Methods: The Australian National Health Survey data were used to derive three sets of study outcomes. Multivariable generalised linear regression models were used to estimate the association between concessional status and study outcomes after controlling for socio-demographic factors. Results: HCC holders, compared to their non-concessional counterparts, had more visits to GPs (1.01, 95% CI: 0.74-1.30), specialists (0.23, 95% CI: 0.02-0.44), outpatient clinics (0.19, 95% CI: 0.06-0.31), and had more hospital admissions (0.04, 95% CI: -0.05-0.91). There was no significant difference in visits to doctors and health professionals about mental health problems among HCC holders and their counterparts. Moreover, less HCC holders consumed alcohol on ≥3 days a week (OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.59-0.93) and had less of an alcohol risk that exceeded the 2001 alcohol guidelines (0.83, 95% CI: 0.69-0.99). Conclusions: This study revealed evidence that reduced patient cost-sharing provided by HCC policy was positively correlated with more health service utilisation after adjusting for socio-demographic characteristics. Strategies to prioritise resources are necessary.
KW - Australia
KW - ex ante moral hazards
KW - health concession policy
KW - health service utilisation
KW - health-related lifestyles
KW - mental health services
KW - obesity
KW - patient cost-sharing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139725367&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/PY21025
DO - 10.1071/PY21025
M3 - Article
SN - 1448-7527
JO - Australian Journal of Primary Health
JF - Australian Journal of Primary Health
ER -