EXHIBIT 1.
Responding Medicare Beneficiaries’ Characteristics, By Physician Supply Quintile, 2005
| Characteristic | Physician supply quintile, all physicians |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very low | Low | Medium | High | Very high | |
|
GENERAL RESPONSES | |||||
| Median supply, per 100,000 population | 146 | 166 | 184 | 205 | 245 |
| Household income | $46,461 | $46,830 | $46,523 | $51,740 | $55,654 |
| Number of respondents | 517 | 501 | 482 | 507 | 508 |
| Percent of respondents | 21% | 20% | 19% | 20% | 20% |
|
AGE (YEARS) | |||||
| 65–74 | 54% | 50% | 45% | 48% | 45% |
| 75–84 | 38 | 40 | 43 | 43 | 44 |
| 85 or older | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 11 |
|
SEX | |||||
| Female | 56% | 55% | 58% | 59% | 61% |
| Male | 44 | 45 | 42 | 41 | 39 |
|
RACE OR ETHNICITY | |||||
| Non-Hispanic white | 83% | 89% | 84% | 88% | 81% |
| Non-Hispanic black | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 10 |
| Hispanic | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Other | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
|
HEALTH STATUS | |||||
| Good | 69% | 70% | 72% | 75% | 74% |
| Poor | 31 | 30 | 28 | 25 | 26 |
SOURCES (1) National survey of Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older in 2005. (2) Physician supply data are from the 2005 American Medical Association Physician Masterfile (see Note 23 in text). (3) Population estimates and household income are from the authors’ analysis of 2006 Claritas and US census data. (4) Dartmouth atlas of health care [Internet]. Lebanon (NH): Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice; [cited 2011 Jan 14]. Available from http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/Tools/Downloads.aspx?tab=37.
NOTES Quintiles represent population-weighted physician supply for hospital service areas. “All physicians” means both primary care physicians and specialists, excluding pediatric specialists. Primary care is defined as family and general practice, and general internal medicine. Supply was adjusted for age and sex in the population of the hospital service area. Good health included good, very good, and excellent health. Poor health included poor and fair health. Household income was the average of the median household income per household of hospital service areas.