Objective: To estimate the economic impact of standard pharmacological treatment for hypertension on a typical household in Argentina using a new indicator relating treatment costs to household income.
Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted from December 2019 to December 2024. The standard Argentine antihypertensive treatment (amlodipine 5 mg and losartan 50 mg) was selected. Retail prices of these drugs, both as single-drug combinations and fixed-dose combinations, were obtained from the publicly available Kairos database. The Standard Treatment Economic Impact Index was developed to express monthly out-of-pocket expenditure as a proportion of the total basic basket published by Argentina's National Institute of Statistics and Censuses. Analyses were stratified by household health coverage status - with or without formal coverage.
Results: Marked differences were seen in household costs by coverage status. Among households with health coverage, antihypertensive treatment costs represented 2.04%-3.39% of the total basic basket, placing expenditure below catastrophic health expenditure thresholds throughout the study. For households without health coverage, the index ranged from 6.81% to 11.31% of the total basic basket, which was above at least one of the catastrophic health expenditure thresholds used, and sometimes above both. Throughout the study, single-drug combinations were more expensive than fixed-dose combinations.
Conclusions: These findings indicate a substantial financial burden for families without formal health coverage when accessing essential antihypertensive therapy. By focusing on treatment affordability rather than total household expenditure, the index may help anticipate and prevent future catastrophic health spending, particularly among uninsured populations.