Out-Of-Pocket Healh Care Costs
A recent Partnership for Solutions study (Projection of Chronic Illness Prevalence and Cost Inflation, October 2000) measured the out-of-pocket costs paid in the year 2000 by patients with one or more chronic conditions:
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Hospital services: $14.3 billion
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Physician services: $44.4 billion
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Home health services: $7.2 billion (private insurance costs for this service equal $3.9 billion, and Medicare costs $10.3 billion)
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Prescription drugs: $30.6 billion (private insurance: $62.2 billion; Medicare: $1.9 billion)
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Nursing home care: $29.4 (private insurance: $4.5 billion; Medicare: $10.6 billion)
Out-of-pocket spending increases with age. While people under the age of 65 spend about 8% of their income on out-of-pocket health expenditures, those over age 80 spend 25%.
Check out Health Affairs latest issue on Chronic Illness in America.
