Table 1. Derivation of the personal health care expenditure fixed-weight price index.
| Commodity or service | Price proxy | 1982 weight |
|---|---|---|
| All personal health care | — | 100.0 |
| Hospital care | Hospital input price index1 | 47.8 |
| Physician services | CPI2, physician services | 18.9 |
| Dental services | CPI2, dental services | 6.5 |
| Other professional services and home health care3 | CPI2, professional services | 4.9 |
| Drugs and other medical nondurables | CPI2, medical care commodities | 8.6 |
| Vision products and other medical durables | Weighted average of CPI2, other professional services, and CPI2, eyeglasses | 2.1 |
| Nursing home care | National nursing home input price index | 9.2 |
| Other personal care | CPI2, medical care | 2.0 |
1
The specific hospital input price index is all hospitals with capital and medical fees (Wages = AHE806NS, Fringes = PanelFB).
2
CPI for all urban consumers, Bureau of Labor Statistics (Department of Labor). Indexes are scaled so that 1982 is 100.0.
3
Two categories combined because no price proxy is available for home health care for entire time period.
NOTES: CPI is Consumer Price Index. No continuous CPI component is available to accurately measure price inflation of hospital spending; and no index of nursing home outputs currently exists.
SOURCE: Health Care Financing Administration, Office of the Actuary: Data from the Office of National Cost Estimates.