Persons with High Health Care Expenditures: Proportions by Age and Insurance Coverage, 2005

摘要

The likelihood of a person having high medical expenses (in total or out of pocket) is affected by several factors, including health status, decisions about health care use by individuals and their health care providers, whether the person is insured, and the generosity of insurance for those with coverage. This Brief provides estimates from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) of proportions of the population with high medical expenditures by age and insurance coverage. All differences between estimates discussed in the text are statistically significant at the .05 level or better. Estimates are provided separately for total and out-of-pocket expenses. Total expenses include payments from all sources (including third-party payers and other miscellaneous sources) to hospitals, physicians, dental providers, pharmacies and other health care providers for services reported in the MEPS Household Component (HC), but does not include health insurance premiums. Out-of-pocket expenses comprise the portion of total payments made by individuals and families for services received.