OBJECTIVES : Left ventricular failure is associated with significantly reduced quality of life, frequent hospitalizations, morbidity and mortality. Our aim was to determine the annual health insurance treatment cost of left ventricular failure in Hungary.

METHODS : Data were derived from the financial database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration (NHIFA), for the year 2018. Data analysed included annual health insurance costs, patient numbers and cost distribution calculated for age groups and sex. The following cost categories were included into the study: general practice care, home care, in- and outpatient care, medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and medical aids. Patients with left ventricular failure were identified with the following code of the International Classification of Diseases 10^th revision: I5010.

RESULTS : In 2018, the NHIFA spent 253.09 million Hungarian Forints (HUF) on the treatment of patients with left ventricular failure, 936.53 thousand American Dollars (USD), or 793.73 thousand Euros (EUR). 51.4% of costs was spent on the treatment of male, 48.6% on female patients. The highest patient numbers were in outpatient care: 2,384 men (58,6%), and 1,685 women (41,4%), in total 4,069 patients. Acute inpatient care (59.2% of total health insurance costs in men, 70.4% in women), outpatient care (30.2% in men, 18.0% in women) and pharmaceuticals (4.8% in men, 4.4% in women) were the main cost drivers, while all other forms of care amounted to 5.8% in men and 7.2% in women. Annual health care treatment cost per patient was 318,658 HUF (1,179 USD/999 EUR) in men and 300,207 HUF (1,111 USD/941 EUR) in women.

CONCLUSIONS : Acute inpatient care was the major cost driver in the treatment of left ventricular failure in Hungary. Major cost drivers showed moderate difference between men and women. No significant difference was found in average annual health insurance costs per patient between the sexes.