Resource use, costs and quality of end-of-life care: observations in a cohort of elderly Australian cancer decedents

Table 6 Derived inflation rates used in converting medicines costs and medical services costs to the June 2010 price level

		2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10
Medicines costs¹	Annual inflation rate (%)	0.1519	0.2123	0.2220	0.4832	0.1603	0.0200
	Monthly inflation rate (%)	0.0126	0.0177	0.0185	0.0402	0.0133	0.0017
Medical services costs (MBS)²	Annual inflation rate (%)	7.0593	4.7857	2.7389	2.3338	1.8166
Medical services costs (dental)	Annual inflation rate (%)	5.6317	4.5525	4.5682	3.8390	4.1654
Medical services costs (other)	Annual inflation rate (%)	3.5392	3.8714	1.1189	1.3020	5.6757

¹Derived inflation rates are applied on a monthly basis to reflect the fact that PBS price schedules are updated monthly. For example, if one AUD was spent in March 2005, then its inflated value in June 2010 can be calculated as 1 × (1 + 0.0126%)³ × (1 + 0.2123%) × (1 + 0.2220%) × (1 + 0.4832%) × (1 + 0.1603%) × (1 + 0.0200%) which equals 1.0114.
²Derived inflation rates are applied on an annual basis per November to October, to reflect the fact that the DVA Medical Fee Schedule is updated every November. For this reason, we adjusted the annual inflation rates for this sector so that they cover a year starting from November (the price index constructed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare is based on a financial year that starts from July). Based on these rates, if one AUD was spent on dental service in March 2005, then its inflated value in June 2010 can be calculated as 1 × (1 + 5.6317%) × (1 + 4.5525%) × (1 + 4.5682%) × (1 + 3.8390%) × (1 + 4.1654%) which equals 1.2491.

ISSN: 1748-5908