OBJECTIVES : Cardiac arrest and sudden heart death are major cause of morbidity and mortality in developing and in industrialized regions. The aim of our study was to calculate the annual health insurance treatment cost of cardiac arrest in Hungary.

METHODS : The data were derived from the financial database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), the only health care financing agency in Hungary. We analyzed the number of patients and the health insurance treatment cost for the year 2018. The following cost categories were included into the study: out-patient care, laboratory diagnostics, medical imaging, acute in-patient care, chronic in-patient care and drugs. Patients with cardiac arrest were identified with the following codes of the International Classification of Diseases 10^threvision: I-46.

RESULTS : The number of patients admitted to inpatient care was 16,745 (51.4 % men and 48.6 % women) with a mean age of 71.95 years (men: 68.93 years; women: 75.15 years). Number of patients underwent out-patient hospital care was 4,745 (58.0 % men and 42.0% women) with a mean age of 67.39 years (men: 65.32 years; women: 70.25 years). For the treatment of patients with cardiac arrest in 2018 the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration spent 7.074 billion Hungarian Forint (HUF) which equals 22.187 million Euros (EUR) or 26.178 million American Dollars (USD). Major cost drivers were acute inpatient care (96.2% of total health insurance costs)and chronic inpatient care (3.2%).

CONCLUSIONS : Cardiac arrest represents a significant burden for the Hungarian health insurance system. The disease is equally common in women and men. There is a significant difference (5-6 years) in the onset of the disease between women and men; men are affected in younger age.