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Tuberculosis Test Usage and Medical Expenditures from Outpatient Insurance Claims Data, 2013
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October 23 2017
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Source: Tuberc Res Treat. 2017
[PDF-276.49 KB]
Details:
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Alternative Title:Tuberc Res Treat
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Personal Author:
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Description:Objective
To evaluate TB test usage and associated direct medical expenditures from 2013 private insurance claims data in the United States (US).
Methods
We extracted outpatient claims for TB-specific and nonspecific tests from the 2013 MarketScan® commercial database. We estimated average expenditures (adjusted for claim and patient characteristics) using semilog regression analyses and compared them to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) national reimbursement limits.
Results
Among the TB-specific tests, 1.4% of the enrollees had at least one claim, of which the tuberculin skin test was most common (86%) and least expensive ($9). The T-SPOT® was the most expensive among the TB-specific tests ($106). Among nonspecific TB tests, the chest radiograph was the most used test (78%), while chest computerized tomography was the most expensive ($251). Adjusted average expenditures for the majority of tests (≈74%) were above CMS limits. We estimated that total United States medical expenditures for the employer-based privately insured population for TB-specific tests were $53.0 million in 2013, of which enrollees paid 17% ($9 million).
Conclusions
We found substantial differences in TB test usage and expenditures. Additionally, employer-based private insurers and enrollees paid more than CMS limits for most TB tests.
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Source:
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Pubmed ID:29326845
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Pubmed Central ID:PMC5672639
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