BACKGROUND: The burden of diabetes has become a worldwide public health issue. Previous studies focused on the composition and influencing factors of hospitalization costs for insured patients. The aim of this study was to compare the economic burden of diabetic patients with and without medical insurance (MI) in China, from the aspects of types of medical costs and diabetic comorbidities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We identified 124 701 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in 2015 from electronic Hospitalization Summary Reports. The information on demographics, comorbidities, and hospitalization costs were extracted and evaluated. Differences between groups were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 58.0±13.4 years. Hypertensive diseases (63.5%), ischemic heart diseases (21.3%), and chronic kidney disease (17.5%) were the most common comorbidities. The median hospitalization costs for diabetic patients with and without MI were 9485.0 RMB and 9104.0 RMB, respectively. The insured patients’ median out-of-pocket (OOP) cost was 1601.3 RMB, and they incurred more costs for laboratory tests, imaging examinations, and medical services, and less costs for prescribed drugs (p<0.05). Insured patients had higher costs when associated with hypertensive diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and ischemic heart diseases (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Diabetic patients with MI have higher hospitalization costs than those without MI, but uninsured patients carry a heavier OOP burden. The MI system in China needs further improvement to reduce the economic burden of diabetes.

Keywords: Costs and Cost Analysis, Diabetes Mellitus, Hospitalization, Insurance