Paying for Hemodialysis in Kerala, India: A Description of Household Financial Hardship in the Context of Medical Subsidy.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Many low- and middle-income countries are implementing strategies to increase dialysis availability as growing numbers of people reach end-stage renal disease. Despite efforts to subsidize care, the economic sustainability of chronic dialysis in these settings remains uncertain. We evaluated the association of medical subsidy with household financial hardship related to hemodialysis in Kerala, India, a state with high penetrance of procedure-based subsidies for patients on dialysis.

Methods

Patients on maintenance hemodialysis at 15 facilities in Kerala were administered a questionnaire that ascertained demographics, dialysis details, and household finances. We estimated direct and indirect costs of hemodialysis, and described the use of medical subsidy. We eval

SUBMITTER: Bradshaw C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6409432 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature