OBJECTIVES : Rheumatoid arthritis has a significant economic burden due to its direct and indirect costs. Our aim was to determine the annual health insurance treatment cost of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis 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 seropositive rheumatoid arthritis were identified with the following code of the International Classification of Diseases 10^th revision: M05.9.

RESULTS : In 2018, the NHIFA spent 715.14 million Hungarian Forints (HUF) on the treatment of patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis [2.65 million American Dollars (USD), or 2.24 million Euros (EUR)]. 15.3% of costs was spent on the treatment of male, 84.7% on female patients. The highest patient numbers were in outpatient care: 1,968 men (16.9%), 9,711 women (83.1%) in total 11,679 patients. Pharmaceuticals (42.6% of total health insurance costs in men, 40.9% in women), outpatient care (18.4% in men, 18.5% in women) and acute inpatient care (14.6% in men, 15.4% in women) were the main cost drivers, all other forms of medical care amounted to 24.5% in men and 25.2% in women. Annual health care treatment cost per patient was 50,842 HUF (188 USD/159 EUR) in men and 66,006 Ft (244 USD/207 EUR) in women.

CONCLUSIONS : Use of pharmaceuticals was the major cost driver in the treatment of seropositive rheumatoid arthritis. Distribution of major cost drivers showed a significant difference between the sexes. The average annual health insurance costs per patient was 30% higher in women.