Medicaid Expenditures Among Children With Noncomplex Chronic Diseases.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2018

Identifier

DOI: 10.1542/peds.2018-0286

Abstract

Background and objectives: Expenditures for children with noncomplex chronic diseases (NC-CDs) are related to disease chronicity and resource use. The degree to which specific conditions contribute to high health care expenditures among children with NC-CDs is unknown. We sought to describe patient characteristics, expenditures, and use patterns of children with NC-CDs with the lowest (≤80th percentile), moderate (81-95th percentile), high (96-99th percentile), and the highest (≥99th percentile) expenditures.

Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we used the 2014 Truven Medicaid MarketScan Database for claims from 11 states. We included continuously enrolled children (age < 18 years) with NC-CDs (n = 1 563 233). We describe per member per year (PMPY) spending and use by each expenditure group for inpatient services, outpatient services, and the pharmacy for physical and mental health conditions. K-means clustering was used to identify expenditure types for the highest expenditure group.

Results: Medicaid PMPY spending ranged from $1466 (lowest expenditures) to $57 300 (highest expenditures; P < .001); children in the highest expenditure group were diagnosed with a mental health condition twice as often (72.7% vs 34.1%). Cluster analysis was used to identify 3 distinct groups: 83% with high outpatient mental health expenditures (n = 13 033; median PMPY $18 814), 15% with high inpatient expenditures (n = 2386; median PMPY $92 950), and 1% with high pharmacy expenditures (n = 213; median $325 412). Mental health conditions accounted for half of the inpatient diagnoses in the cluster analysis.

Conclusions: One percent of children with the highest expenditures accounted for 20% of Medicaid expenditures in children with NC-CDs; mental health conditions account for a large proportion of aggregate Medicaid spending in children with NC-CDs.

Journal Title

Pediatrics

Volume

142

Issue

5

MeSH Keywords

Adolescent; Child; Child, Preschool; Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Databases, Factual; Female; Health Expenditures; Humans; Infant; Male; Medicaid; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Retrospective Studies; United States

Keywords

Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Health Expenditures; Medicaid; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Retrospective Studies

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