STATISTICAL BRIEF #480: Differentials in the Concentration of Health Expenditures across Population Subgroups in the U.S., 2013

STATISTICAL BRIEF #480: Differentials in the Concentration of Health Expenditures across Population Subgroups in the U.S., 2013

AHRQ Stats: Per-Person Health Care Expenses

Among the U.S. noninstitutionalized population in 2013, the 1 percent of Americans with the highest health care expenses accounted for nearly 22 percent of the nation’s total health care expenditures. Members of that group had annual average expenses of $95,200. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #480:Differentials in the Concentration of Health Expenditures across Population Subgroups in the U.S., 2013.)

STATISTICAL BRIEF #480: Differentials in the Concentration of Health Expenditures across Population Subgroups in the U.S., 2013

September 2015

Steven B. Cohen, PhD

Highlights

• In 2013, the top 1 percent ranked by their health care expenses accounted for 21.5 percent of total health care expenditures with an annual mean expenditure of $95,200.
• Overall, the top 50 percent of the population ranked by their expenditures accounted for 97.1 percent of overall health care expenditures, while the lower 50 percent accounted for only 2.9 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 67.5 percent of the health care expenditures incurred by this subpopulation with an annual mean of $17,902.
• Conditioned on insurance coverage status, the uninsured had the lowest annual mean expenses.
• For Hispanics, the top five percent accounted for 57.3 percent of their health care expenditures with an annual mean of $28,868. Alternatively, non-Hispanic whites and other races and black non-Hispanics exhibited higher mean levels of health care expenditures than Hispanics and non-Hispanic Asians at the top quantiles of the expenditure distribution.