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Health care costs for employed hypertensives
J R Hebel1, R J McCarter, M Sexton
1Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
Insights
Hypertension significantly increases employee healthcare costs, costing approximately 80% more than for normotensive individuals. This finding highlights the economic impact of managing high blood pressure in the workplace.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Health Economics
- Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology
Background:
- Hypertension is a prevalent condition affecting a significant portion of the adult population.
- Understanding the economic burden of hypertension is crucial for healthcare management and policy.
- Worksite health screenings offer opportunities to identify employees with hypertension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the healthcare costs associated with hypertension in an employed population.
- To compare healthcare expenditures between hypertensive, high normal, and normotensive employees.
- To identify the components contributing to increased costs in hypertensive individuals.
Main Methods:
- Utilized health care insurance claims data from an employed population over a three-year period.
- Classified employees into three groups: hypertensive, high normal, and normotensive based on worksite screening.
- Analyzed claims data for cost differences, adjusting for demographic and insurance coverage variables.
Main Results:
- Average healthcare claims per employee were significantly higher for hypertensives compared to normotensives and high normals.
- No significant cost difference was observed between high normal and normotensive groups.
- Hypertensive employees incurred approximately 80% higher healthcare costs than normotensive employees.
Conclusions:
- Hypertension represents a substantial financial burden on healthcare systems within employed populations.
- Increased costs for hypertensives are driven by hospitalizations, physician visits, nursing care, and prescription drugs.
- Early identification and management of hypertension in the workplace can potentially mitigate significant healthcare expenditures.
Abstract:
Health care insurance claims were used to track costs associated with hypertension for an employed population. Employees were classified as hypertensive (n = 373), high normal (n = 363), or normotensive (n = 2,411) on the basis of hypertension screening done at the worksite. Claims activity was monitored for the three groups during a three-year period, including periods before, during, and after the screening done at the worksite. The average amount claimed per employee was significantly higher for the hypertensives as compared with the normotensives or high normals, even after adjustment for age, race, sex, salary, marital status, and duration of insurance coverage. There was no significant difference in the average amount claimed per employee between high normals and normotensives. The health care costs for hypertensives are estimated to be about 80% more than those for normotensives. Hospital, physicians, and nursing care accounts for about 50 percentage points of this increment while the remaining 30 percentage points derive from drug costs.