Accurate calculations of out-of-pocket costs for mental healthcare consultations
Jeffrey C. L. Looi
A * and Stephen J. Robson B
A Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, The Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology, Canberra Hospital, Building 4, Level 2, PO Box 11, Garran, Canberra, ACT 2605, Australia.
B Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The Australian National University School of Medicine and Psychology, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Australian Health Review 47(2) 258-259 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH22294
Submitted: 22 December 2022 Accepted: 3 January 2023 Published: 27 January 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA.
Abstract
What is known about the topic? When assessing real growth in costs, it is important to adjust for inflation through indexation to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The change in prices or costs over time can be calculated in constant currency amounts by adjusting by a ratio of the CPI in the year of interest to the CPI in the baseline year. What does this paper add? Rosenberg et al. (2022) did not calculate out-of-pocket costs in constant currency, which does not give an accurate estimation of costs adjusted for inflation. What are the implications for practitioners? We calculated examples to illustrate the impact of such adjustments, which substantially impact the results of the study.
References
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