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How much does the treatment of each major disease cost? A decomposition of Swiss National Health Accounts

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Wieser

    (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)

  • Marco Riguzzi

    (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)

  • Mark Pletscher

    (Zurich University of Applied Sciences)

  • Carola A. Huber

    (Helsana Insurance Group)

  • Harry Telser

    (Polynomics)

  • Matthias Schwenkglenks

    (University of Zurich)

Abstract

In most countries, surprisingly little is known on how national healthcare spending is distributed across diseases. Single-disease cost-of-illness studies cover only a few of the diseases affecting a population and in some cases lead to untenably large estimates. The objective of this study was to decompose healthcare spending in 2011, according to Swiss National Health Accounts, into 21 collectively exhaustive and mutually exclusive major disease categories. Diseases were classified following the Global Burden of Disease Study. We first assigned the expenditures directly mapping from National Health Accounts to the 21 diseases. The remaining expenditures were assigned based on diagnostic codes and clues contained in a variety of microdata sources. Expenditures were dominated by non-communicable diseases with a share of 79.4%. Cardiovascular diseases stood out with 15.6% of total spending, followed by musculoskeletal disorders (13.4%), and mental and substance use disorders (10.6%). Neoplasms (6.0% of the total) ranked only sixth, although they are the leading cause of premature death in Switzerland. These results may be useful for the design of health policies, as they illustrate how healthcare spending is influenced by the epidemiological transition and increasing life expectancy. They also provide a plausibility check for single cost-of-illness studies. Our study may serve as a starting point for further research on the drivers of the constant growth of healthcare spending.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Wieser & Marco Riguzzi & Mark Pletscher & Carola A. Huber & Harry Telser & Matthias Schwenkglenks, 2018. "How much does the treatment of each major disease cost? A decomposition of Swiss National Health Accounts," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 19(8), pages 1149-1161, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:19:y:2018:i:8:d:10.1007_s10198-018-0963-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-018-0963-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eberechukwu Onukwugha & Jacquelyn McRae & Alex Kravetz & Stefan Varga & Rahul Khairnar & C. Mullins, 2016. "Cost-of-Illness Studies: An Updated Review of Current Methods," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 43-58, January.
    2. Heijink, Richard & Noethen, Manuela & Renaud, Thomas & Koopmanschap, Marc & Polder, Johan, 2008. "Cost of illness: An international comparison: Australia, Canada, France, Germany and The Netherlands," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 49-61, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Eggli, Yves & Stadelmann, Pierre & Piaget-Rossel, Romain & Marti, Joachim, 2019. "Heterogeneity in The drivers of health expenditures financed by health insurance in a fragmented health system: The case of Switzerland," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(12), pages 1275-1281.
    2. Nicolet, Anna & Perraudin, Clémence & Krucien, Nicolas & Wagner, Joël & Peytremann-Bridevaux, Isabelle & Marti, Joachim, 2023. "Preferences of older adults for healthcare models designed to improve care coordination: Evidence from Western Switzerland," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    3. Indrani Gupta & Avantika Ranjan, 2019. "Public expenditure on Non-Communicable Diseases & Injuries in India: A budget-based analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(9), pages 1-12, September.
    4. Fiorella Pia Salvatore & Alessia Spada & Francesca Fortunato & Demetris Vrontis & Mariantonietta Fiore, 2021. "Identification of Health Expenditures Determinants: A Model to Manage the Economic Burden of Cardiovascular Disease," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-15, April.
    5. Babashahi, Saeideh & Hansen, Paul & Sullivan, Trudy, 2021. "Creating a priority list of non-communicable diseases to support health research funding decision-making," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(2), pages 221-228.
    6. Michael Stucki, 2021. "Factors related to the change in Swiss inpatient costs by disease: a 6-factor decomposition," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(2), pages 195-221, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Healthcare expenditures; Cost-of-illness; Healthcare costs; National Health Accounts; Switzerland; Decomposition by diseases;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets

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