Health insurance as a moderator in the relationship between financial toxicity and medical cost‐coping behaviors: Evidence from patients with lung cancer in China

Abstract

Abstract Objective This study investigates the relationship between financial toxicity and medical cost‐coping behaviors (MCCB) in Chinese patients with lung cancer, with a particular focus on the moderating role of health insurance. Methods We surveyed 218 patients with lung cancer and assessed their Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST) and self‐reported MCCB. Patients were categorized into Urban Employee's Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) group and Urban–Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance Scheme (URRBMI) groups by their medical insurance, and matched for socioeconomic, demographic, and disease characteristics via propensity score. Results Significant different characteristics were noted between UEBMI patients and URRBMI patients. Patients with UEBMI had higher COST scores but lower levels of MCCB compared to URRBMI patients in the original dataset. After data matching, multivariate logit regression analysis showed that better financial toxicity was associated with lower levels of MCCB (OR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92–0.99). Health insurance type did not have a direct association with cost‐coping behaviors, but an interaction was observed between health insurance type and financial toxicity. Among patients with URRBMI, better financial toxicity was associated with lower levels of cost‐coping behaviors (OR = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.83–0.95). Patients with UEBMI had a lower probability of engaging in any cost‐coping behaviors in situations of worse financial toxicity compared to patients with URRBMI. Conclusion The findings suggest that financial toxicity is correlated with MCCB in Chinese patients with lung cancer. The type of health insurance, specifically UEBMI and URRBMI, plays a moderating role in this relationship. Understanding these dynamics is essential for developing targeted interventions and policies to mitigate financial toxicity and improve patients' management of medical costs.

Keywords

• China
• financial toxicity
• health insurance
• medical cost‐coping behaviors
• patients with lung cancer