Estimated economic costs of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis among coal workers redeployed from the Fuxin mining group in China

Abstract

Our research estimated the economic costs of possible cases of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP) among redeployed coal workers from the Fuxin Mining Industry Group. The study cohort included 19,116 coal workers between 1965 and 2012. We estimated direct and indirect economic costs due to possible current and future CWP cases among redeployed coal workers. We found as of 2012 that 141 possible CWP cases might have resulted in economic costs of $37.52 million ($33.84 million were direct and $3.68 million indirect). Moreover, 221 possible future CWP cases would result in economic costs of $63.89 million ($57.20 million direct and $6.69 million indirect). Neither the Fuxin Mining Industry Group nor Fuxin could cover the costs of CWP screening and diagnosis, or social security payments for redeployed coal workers. We suggest that China's national government help Liaoning Province and Fuxin focus on health care and social security.

Measuring the Health Related Quality of Life and Economic Burden of Illness Among Migrant Workers With Pneumoconiosis

“…The terminal economic burden of illness is generally computed within 2 parts, direct economic burden (DE) and indirect economic burden (IE). 8,9 For the former, DE is acquired by field questionnaire for demographic information investigation, including direct medical expenses (DM) such as outpatient, hospitalization, medical, and inspection expenses, and direct nonmedical expenses (DN) include nutrition, transportation, and travel expenses of the patients and their caregivers. For the latter, IE reflects the reduction in effective labor time and the decline in labor quality due to illness, disability, and premature death.…”

“…The direct economic burden is obtained through a retrospective investigation of patients’ past expense invoices. In addition, using the human capital method, which could convert the duration of work absences and life loss into monetized values, thus the indirect economic burden of pneumoconiosis is estimated 8,9 . However, the economic burden of MWP in China has not been well explained by existing literature.…”

Socioeconomic Status, Occupational Disease, and Psychological Well-Being: Evidence from People with Pneumoconiosis in China

“…The findings also clarify that the clinical characteristics of pneumoconiosis are linked to people's current socioeconomic status through their treatment expenditure and employment status. Existing studies have summarized that coal workers' pneumoconiosis leads to both direct economic costs, including medical fees, allowances and compensation, and indirect economic costs, including productivity losses, at the national level (Han et al 2018;Liang et al 2003). Similarly, pneumoconiosis is also negatively associated with people's socioeconomic status at the individual level directly due to treatment expenditure and indirectly due to the loss of the ability to work.…”

Cost-effectiveness of comprehensive preventive measures for coal workers’ pneumoconiosis in China

“…Few studies have focused on the cost-effectiveness of preventive measures for CWP in coal enterprises. Most economic studies on CWP in China have evaluated direct or indirect economic losses from the patient's perspective [13,14]. To the best of our knowledge, few studies have analysed the cost-effectiveness of interventions for CWP from the perspective of coal enterprises.…”