AHRQ Stats: Health Care Expenses

Half of the U.S. population accounted for more than 97 percent of total health care expenses in 2012, while the other half of the population accounted for the remaining 3 percent. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #448: Differentials in the Concentration of Health Expenditures across Population Subgroups in the U.S., 2012.)

STATISTICAL BRIEF #448:
Differentials in the Concentration of Health Expenditures across Population Subgroups in the U.S., 2012

September 2014

Steven B. Cohen, PhD

Highlights

In 2012, the top 1 percent ranked by their health care expenses accounted for 22.7 percent of total health care expenditures with an annual mean expenditure of $97,956. Overall, the top 50 percent of the population ranked by their expenditures accounted for 97.3 percent of overall health care expenditures, while the lower 50 percent accounted for only 2.7 percent of the total.
Individuals age 65 and older were characterized by substantially less concentrated levels of health care spending relative to their younger counterparts. Alternatively, the elderly had the highest mean levels of health care expenditures relative to younger population subgroups at the top quantiles of the expenditure distribution.
The top 5 percent of the uninsured population under age 65 ranked by their health care expenses accounted for 58.9 percent of the health care expenditures incurred by this subpopulation with an annual mean of $14,565. Conditioned on insurance coverage status, the uninsured had the lowest annual mean expenses.
The top 5 percent of individuals with four or more chronic conditions accounted for 29.7 percent of health care expenditures for this subpopulation with an annual mean of $78,198. Based on chronic condition status, persons with four or more chronic conditions had the lowest concentrated levels of health care expenditures and higher annual mean expenses at the top quantiles of the expenditure distribution.