In China, majority of urban populations are covered under the Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) and the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) schemes. This study aims to investigate the associations between provider payment methods and expenditure of depressive patients using the claim data of UEBMI and URBMI.
An analysis of national claims data of depressive patients showed that the total and out-of-pocket expenditure significantly differentiated by provider payment methods. Comparing to fee-for-service, capitation payment and global budget were able to alleviate outpatient expense in primary and secondary hospitals, respectively. Similarly, per-diem and case-based payments performed more efficiently in lessening financial burden for inpatient services. Taken these together, optimizing the provider payment methods might be a valuable strategy to curb the financial burden incurred by depression disorders.