By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Dec. 16, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- Though households with a baby with Down syndrome do face further medical bills, they in all probability will not be deeply burdened financially, a brand new examine suggests.
Researchers discovered that common month-to-month out-of-pocket medical prices are about $80 extra for kids with Down syndrome in comparison with different youngsters. That provides as much as about $18,000 over the primary 18 years of life, the examine authors mentioned.
"I believe many individuals can be stunned to be taught that oldsters have few further medical bills when elevating a baby or adolescent with Down syndrome, since medical insurance covers a lot of the prices," mentioned examine creator Dr. Brian Skotko. He's co-director of the Down Syndrome Program at Massachusetts Common Hospital in Boston.
"After expectant obtain a prenatal prognosis of Down syndrome, lots of them search on-line for info and discover the prolonged record of medical situations which may accompany their baby," Skotko defined in a hospital information launch.
"This may go away them to wonder if their households can be dealing with monetary hardship; so we needed to supply them with correct information reflecting the present scenario," he famous.
The examine authors examined a database of insurance coverage claims from 1999 to 2013. The claims got here from 82 self-insured Fortune 500 corporations in the US.
The researchers discovered almost 5,200 kids beneath the age of 18 with Down syndrome within the database. The investigators in contrast these youngsters to the same group of virtually 21,000 kids with out the situation.
The typical annual out-of-pocket medical value distinction was $1,907 for teenagers with Down syndrome throughout the first 12 months. The price distinction dipped to $537 yearly when kids had been aged 13 to 18, the examine revealed.
Skotko mentioned he hopes the examine findings present some useful info for households who obtain a prenatal prognosis of Down syndrome.
"Dad and mom right now have an array of economic planning and funding choices, together with particular wants trusts, so I hope our findings can assist households higher put together for their very own monetary futures," he mentioned.
The examine was printed Dec. 14 within the American Journal of Medical Genetics, Half A.
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