Private insurance claim lines with Lyme disease diagnoses have been increasing in both urban and rural areas, according to a new FAIR Health analysis.
For the analysis, the healthcare data analytics and consumer education firm examined its database of more than 23 billion privately billed healthcare claims to learn more about the bacterial disease transmitted by ticks.
The analysis found private insurance claim lines with Lyme disease diagnosis increased 185 percent in rural areas from 2007 to 2016. During the same time period, private insurance claim lines with Lyme disease diagnosis increased 40 percent in urban areas.
The analysis also revealed claim lines with Lyme disease diagnoses were more common during the months of June and July in rural areas compared to urban areas. However, such claim lines occurred more often from December to April in urban areas compared to rural areas.
Additionally, researchers looked at which states' claim lines with diagnoses of Lyme disease as a percentage of all claim lines with all diagnoses in the state were highest compared to other states. The top Lyme disease states in 2007, from highest to lowest, were New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, according to the analysis. The top Lyme disease states in 2016, from highest to lowest, were Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, North Carolina and New York.
Read more about the findings here.
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