Table 3.
Relative cost increase estimates & confidence intervals for factors associated with VA medical, fee basis and pharmacy costs, base and interaction modelsa (N = 92,749)
| Relative Increases in Cost ($) from 2007 to 2009 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2007-2009 | |||||
| Base | Interaction | Base | Interaction | Base | Interaction | Base | Interaction | |
| Variables | Estimate (95 % CI) | Estimate (95 % CI) | Estimate (95 % CI) | Estimate (95 % CI) | ||||
| Health Literacy | ||||||||
| Inadequate | 1.26** (1.23-1.29) | 1.72** (1.45-2.03) | 1.32** (1.28-1.36) | 1.58** (1.32-1.91) | 1.50** (1.45-1.54) | 2.32** (1.92-2.8) | 1.30** (1.27-1.33) | 2.06** (1.76-2.4) |
| Marginal | 1.10** (1.08-1.12) | 1.17* (1.04-1.31) | 1.14** (1.12-1.17) | 1.43** (1.26-1.62) | 1.17** (1.15-1.20) | 1.83** (1.61-2.07) | 1.12** (1.10-1.14) | 1.42** (1.28-1.57) |
| Adequate | (Reference) | |||||||
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male | 0.83** (0.81-0.86) | 0.83** (0.81-0.85) | 0.83** (0.81-0.85) | 0.83** (0.80-0.85) | 0.80** (0.78-0.82) | 0.81** (0.78-0.83) | 0.83** (0.82-0.85) | 0.84** (0.82-0.86) |
| Female | (Reference) | |||||||
| Marital Status | ||||||||
| Divorced | 1.15** (1.14-1.17) | 1.16** (1.14-1.18) | 1.13** (1.11-1.15) | 1.12** (1.10-1.14) | 1.18** (1.16-1.19) | 1.17** (1.14-1.19) | 1.15** (1.14-1.17) | 1.15** (1.13-1.16) |
| Other | 1.13** (1.11-1.15) | 1.11** (1.09-1.14) | 1.13** (1.11-1.15) | 1.10** (1.08-1.12) | 1.12** (1.10-1.15) | 1.13** (1.11-1.16) | 1.12** (1.10-1.14) | 1.11** (1.09-1.13) |
| Married | (Reference) | |||||||
| Priority Code | ||||||||
| Catastrophically disabled | 2.11** (2.07-2.14) | 2.11** (2.07-2.15) | 1.92** (1.89-1.96) | 1.90** (1.86-1.94) | 1.99** (1.95-2.03) | 2.00** (1.96-2.04) | 1.88** (1.85-1.91) | 1.88** (1.85-1.92) |
| Medicaid assistance/low income | 1.58** (1.56-1.61) | 1.59** (1.56-1.61) | 1.57** (1.54-1.59) | 1.57** (1.54-1.60) | 1.60** (1.57-1.63) | 1.61** (1.58-1.64) | 1.55** (1.53-1.58) | 1.56** (1.53-1.58) |
| Moderate disability | 1.25** (1.23-1.27) | 1.24** (1.21-1.26) | 1.26** (1.24-1.28) | 1.25** (1.22-1.27) | 1.30** (1.28-1.33) | 1.29** (1.26-1.31) | 1.26** (1.24-1.28) | 1.25** (1.23-1.27) |
| No service-connected disability | (Reference) | |||||||
| Race | ||||||||
| Minority | 0.98* (0.96-1.00) | 0.97* (0.95-0.99) | 1.01 (0.99-1.03) | 1.00 (0.98-1.03) | 1.04* (1.02-1.06) | 1.03* (1.01-1.06) | 1.01 (1.00-1.03) | 1.00 (0.99-1.02) |
| Non-minority | (Reference) | |||||||
| Ethnicity | ||||||||
| Hispanic or Latino | 1.08* (1.04-1.13) | 1.09** (1.04-1.14) | 1.03 (0.98-1.08) | 1.01 (0.96-1.06) | 1.03 (0.99-1.08) | 1.02 (0.97-1.08) | 1.04* (1.00-1.08) | 1.03(0.98-1.07) |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | (Reference) | |||||||
| Age | ||||||||
| <55 | 1.64** (1.59-1.69) | 1.68** (1.62-1.73) | 1.67** (1.62-1.72) | 1.70** (1.64-1.76) | 1.56** (1.52-1.61) | 1.71** (1.65-1.77) | 1.64** (1.60-1.68) | 1.71** (1.66-1.76) |
| 55-64 | 1.62 ** (1.58-1.67) | 1.66** (1.61-1.71) | 1.65** (1.6-1.69) | 1.68** (1.62-1.74) | 1.54** (1.50-1.59) | 1.69** (1.64-1.75) | 1.61** (1.58-1.65) | 1.70** (1.65-1.74) |
| 65-74 | 1.41** (1.37-1.44) | 1.43** (1.39-1.47) | 1.42** (1.38-1.46) | 1.44** (1.39-1.49) | 1.26** (1.22-1.29) | 1.38** (1.33-1.42) | 1.37** (1.34-1.41) | 1.44** (1.40-1.48) |
| 75-84 | 1.11** (1.08-1.14) | 1.13** (1.09-1.16) | 1.15** (1.12-1.19) | 1.18** (1.14-1.22) | 1.03* (1.00-1.06) | 1.09** (1.06-1.13) | 1.10** (1.08-1.13) | 1.14** (1.11-1.17) |
| ≥85 | (Reference) | |||||||
| DCG | 2.13** (2.11-2.15) | 2.22** (2.20-2.25) | 2.01** (1.99-2.03) | 2.10** (2.07-2.12) | 2.01** (1.99-2.03) | 2.09** (2.06-2.11) | 2.35** (2.33-2.37) | 2.47** (2.45-2.50) |
| Disease Status | (Reference = “no disease”) | |||||||
| Cerebral | 1.23** (1.19-1.28) | 1.25** (1.2-1.3) | 1.26** (1.21-1.31) | 1.27** (1.21-1.33) | 1.27** (1.22-1.32) | 1.27** (1.21-1.33) | 1.14** (1.12-1.17) | 1.14** (1.11-1.17) |
| Heart | 1.22** (1.20-1.23) | 1.22** (1.20-1.24) | 1.29** (1.27-1.31) | 1.30** (1.28-1.32) | 1.18** (1.16-1.20) | 1.19** (1.17-1.21) | 1.17** (1.15-1.18) | 1.19** (1.17-1.20) |
| Vascular | 1.16** (1.13-1.19) | 1.19** (1.16-1.22) | 1.24** (1.21-1.27) | 1.26** (1.22-1.29) | 1.18** (1.15-1.21) | 1.19** (1.15-1.22) | 1.12** (1.10-1.14) | 1.13** (1.11-1.16) |
| Cancer | 1.27** (1.24-1.29) | 1.26** (1.24-1.29) | 1.32** (1.29-1.34) | 1.34** (1.31-1.37) | 1.36** (1.34-1.39) | 1.36** (1.33-1.39) | 1.21** (1.19-1.23) | 1.21** (1.19-1.23) |
| Diabetes | 1.25** (1.23-1.26) | 1.26** (1.24-1.28) | 1.26** (1.24-1.28) | 1.28** (1.26-1.30) | 1.25** (1.23-1.26) | 1.25** (1.23-1.27) | 1.21** (1.19-1.22) | 1.21** (1.20-1.23) |
| Arrhythmias | 1.14** (1.12-1.17) | 1.13** (1.11-1.16) | 1.21** (1.19-1.24) | 1.23** (1.19-1.26) | 1.29** (1.26-1.32) | 1.30** (1.27-1.33) | 1.14** (1.12-1.15) | 1.13** (1.11-1.15) |
* = p-value < 0.05, ** = p-value < 0.001
aInteraction terms not shown