A catastrophic illness is a severe illness requiring prolonged hospitalization or recovery. Examples include[1]cancer,
heart attack or
stroke. These illnesses usually involve high costs for patients and
health insurance companies and may incapacitate the person from working, creating a financial hardship. They are the type intended to be covered by
high-deductible health plans. Research indicates that the unusual economic environment of the delivery of catastrophic illness care encourages the use of innovative therapies.[2]Medicare contains a benefit for catastrophic illness.[3]
References
^MR Gillick; NA Serrell; LS Gillick (1982), "Adverse consequences of hospitalization in the elderly", Social Science & Medicine, 16 (10): 1033–1038,
doi:
10.1016/0277-9536(82)90175-7,
PMID6955965
^John K. Iglehart (March 2001), Medicare's New Benefits: "Catastrophic" Health Insurance, vol. 10, Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical Economics, pp. 213–228
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