APPENDIX TABLE 1.
Medication and other health care utilization by quartile of OOP cost for asthma medications, children under 5 years
| Full sample | Quartile 1 | Quartile 2 | Quartile 3 | Quartile 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 2921 | 769 | 707 | 730 | 715 |
| Annual OOP cost for basket of asthma medications, $ Mean (SD) | 151 (72) | 89 (17) | 118 (24) | 161 (34) | 241 (73) |
| Mean non-medication coinsurance rate (SD) | 24.2 (10.7) | 20.6 (7.5) | 22.9 (11.4) | 27.0 (10.7) | 26.7 (11.4) |
| Medication utilization | |||||
| Days covered by an asthma prescription during 365-day follow-up, % (SD) | 46.2 (26.7) | 47.9 (26.8) | 46.0 (26.4) | 43.9 (26.3) | 46.8 (26.7) |
| Health care utilization after initiating control therapy | |||||
| Asthma-related hospitalization during 365-day follow-up, No. children (%) | 136 (4.7) | 39 (5.1) | 39 (5.5) | 23 (3.2) | 35 (4.9) |
| Asthma-related emergency department visit during 365-day follow-up, No. children (%) | 231 (7.9) | 53 (6.9) | 57 (8.1) | 60 (8.2) | 61 (8.5) |
| Health care utilization prior to initiating control therapy | |||||
| Asthma-related hospitalization in 180 days prior to initiating control therapy, No. children (%) | 162 (5.6) | 38 (4.9) | 47 (6.7) | 34 (4.7) | 43 (6.0) |
| Asthma-related emergency department visit in 180 days prior to initiating control therapy, No. children (%) | 207 (7.1) | 54 (7.0) | 50 (7.1) | 54 (7.4) | 49 (6.9) |
Notes: Table reports unadjusted analyses. Annual OOP cost and expenditures on hospitalization are in 2010 dollars. Mean non-medication coinsurance rate is the mean OOP cost of all medical services (e.g. hospitalizations, ED visits, durable equipment, etc.) divided by the total payment (OOP + health plan) for those services. The 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles of Annual OOP cost for asthma medications are $100, $140, and $190 respectively.