Impact of Payment Methods of Urban Basic Health Insurance on Treatment Expenses of Insured Patients with Cancer in Urban Areas in China

Objective: There is always a conflict between payment of health insurance fund and treatment expenses of cancer.The research investigated and analyzed the impact of payment methods on treatment expenses of patients with cancer.Methods: A sam-pling survey was conducted in 9 cities and in each city we sampled 600 patients and acquired their treatment records of cancer.Then a multiple linear regression model was employed to analyze the influencing factors of in-patient expenses.Results: There were three main forms of payment methods,including fee-for-service,flat rate payment and quota payment.In-patient expenses under flat rate payment was 2 416 yuan lower than that under fee-for-service;there was no significant difference between those under quota payment and fee-for-services.Conclusions: Flat rate payment had a better effect of controlling treatment expenses of cancer.Integrated appli-cation of various payment methods should be carried out to make up for the weakness of implementing single one.