Table 1. Four population distributions of healthcare service use and cost: Sociodemographics, health conditions, disability, services used, annual expenditures, insurance coverage and access to care among persons age 18-65, pooled annual estimates, MEPS 2006-2008.
| ALL | Elevated utilization | High utilization | Elevated cost | High cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||
| N | 53,586 | 15,352 | 6,683 | 9,974 | 3,999 |
|
| |||||
| Population size, millions | 184.68 | 55.11 | 23.46 | 35.45 | 14.20 |
|
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| Sociodemographics | |||||
| Age, mean | 41.31 (.12) | 46.87 (.17) | 48.78 (.22) | 46.74 (.19) | 47.41 (.24) |
| Gender, female | 50.76% (.24) | 62.37% (.47) | 63.10% (.71) | 62.73% (.63) | 62.49% (.97) |
| Race and Ethnicity | |||||
| NH white | 66.70% (.73) | 75.47% (.68) | 77.01% (.82) | 74.87% (.76) | 75.09% (.95) |
| NH Black | 11.87% (.48) | 10.40% (.48) | 10.44% (.59) | 10.84% (.52) | 11.93% (.67) |
| Hispanic | 14.54% (.56) | 8.95% (.41) | 7.80% (.44) | 9.12% (.44) | 7.84% (.53) |
| Other/multiple | 6.90% (.33) | 5.17% (.34) | 4.76% (.43) | 5.17% (.36) | 5.14% (.49) |
| Poverty, 125% of FPL or lower | 26.06% (.42) | 26.35% (.59) | 29.97% (.87) | 26.76% (65) | 29.14% (.96) |
| Less than high school educ. | 13.39% (.31) | 11.44% (.36) | 13.10% (.56) | 11.17% (.41) | 11.88% (.62) |
|
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| Health, disability, conditions | |||||
| Overall health fair or poor | 19.56% (.31) | 37.10% (.58) | 49.87% (.91) | 40.56 % (.70) | 51.04% (1.05) |
| Mental health fair or poor | 11.99% (.24) | 22.12% (.49) | 30.32% (.79) | 23.75% (.57) | 28.61% (.90) |
| Disability | |||||
| None | 83.20% (.33) | 64.30% (.63) | 49.81% (.95) | 60.90% (.70) | 49.90% (.99) |
| Non-ADL/IADL | 13.15% (.28) | 25.88% (.55) | 33.63% (.80) | 26.78% (.60) | 31.18% (.86) |
| ADL/IADL | 3.65% (.12) | 9.82% (.32) | 16.57% (.59) | 12.32% (.44) | 18.92% (.79) |
| Chronic conditions | |||||
| None | 46.56% (.41) | 13.77% (.38) | 8.62% (.45) | 15.95% (.47) | 13.33% (.63) |
| One or more | 53.44% (.41) | 86.23% (.38) | 91.38% (.45) | 84.05% (.47) | 86.67% (.63) |
| 1 | 23.13% (.24) | 19.61% (.41) | 14.16% (.54) | 17.67% (.47) | 15.26% (.70) |
| 2-3 | 20.44% (.27) | 37.75% (.53) | 32.17% (.76) | 33.24% (.63) | 30.57% (.95) |
| 4+ | 9.87% (.22) | 28.87% (.54) | 45.06% (.89) | 33.14% (.68) | 40.84% (1.03) |
| Acute conditions | |||||
| None | 26.95% (.36) | 6.60% (.27) | 4.37% (.31) | 5.16% (.30) | 4.27% (.38) |
| One or more | 73.05% (.36) | 93.40% (.27) | 95.63% (.31) | 94.84% (.30) | 95.73% (.38) |
| 1 | 25.72% (.26) | 15.61% (.39) | 11.06% (.52) | 14.97% (.47) | 12.26% (.66) |
| 2-3 | 30.88% (.28) | 38.14% (.54) | 33.04% (.83) | 36.92% (.64) | 34.21% (.91) |
| 4+ | 16.44% (.31) | 39.64% (.63) | 51.53% (.92) | 42.95% (.74) | 49.26% (1.08) |
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| Insurance and access to care | |||||
| Insured all year | 70.35% (.42) | 81.31% (.47) | 83.20% (.60) | 84.32% (.51) | 86.63% (.64) |
| Any private | 89.77% (.31) | 83.58% (.54) | 77.10% (.88) | 82.37% (.61) | 79.37% (.92) |
| Public only | 10.23% (.31) | 16.42% (.54) | 22.90% (.88) | 17.63% (.61) | 20.63% (.92) |
| Uninsured part year | 12.06% (.21) | 10.03% (.33) | 9.04% (.47) | 9.54% (.42) | 8.63% (.54) |
| Uninsured all year | 17.59% (.35) | 8.65% (.31) | 7.76% (.41) | 6.13% (.31) | 4.74% (.39) |
| Medical care delayed or not received | 6.30% (.18) | 10.04% (.36) | 12.47% (.54) | 9.32% (.38) | 10.38% (.58) |
| RX delayed or not received | 4.34% (.14) | 8.62% (.31) | 10.91% (.50) | 8.18% (.37) | 9.51% (.61) |
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| Services used | |||||
| Primary care doctor, mean | .99 (.01) | 2.08 (.04) | 2.64 (.07) | 2.10 (04) | 2.31 (.07) |
| Specialty doctor, mean | 2.10 (.03) | 5.55 (.08) | 8.38 (.17) | 7.03 (.11) | 9.74 (.23) |
| RX fills, mean | 9.89 (.15) | 26.64 (.35) | 40.81 (.65) | 30.01 (.46) | 37.94 (.83) |
| Therapies, PT, OT or ST | 6.95% (.17) | 18.59% (.48) | 26.99% (.78) | 18.10% (.52) | 21.38% (.83) |
| Mental health | 3.78% (.13) | 9.94% (.36) | 15.43% (.65) | 10.42% (.42) | 12.58% (.71) |
| ED visits, mean | .18 (.00) | .41 (.01) | .57 (.02) | .48 (.01) | .67 (.02) |
| Days hospitalized, mean | .34 (.01) | 1.04 (.04) | 1.86 (.10) | 1.68 (.06) | 3.42 (.14) |
| Home health | 1.19% (.06) | 3.99% (.20) | 6.11% (.37) | 5.28% (.28) | 10.35% (.56) |
| Total number of services used, mean | 1.80 (.01) | 3.09 (.01) | 3.45 (.02) | 3.39 (.01) | 3.85 (.02) |
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| Expenditures for care | |||||
| Annual medical expenditures, mean, median | $3,235 ($62), $575 ($14) |
$8,911 ($181), $4,180 ($58) |
$14,103 ($396), $7,360 ($140) |
$13,822 ($266), $8,077 ($96) |
$25,419 ($575), $16,928 ($214) |
| Out of pocket medical expenditures, mean, median | $497 ($8), $117 ($3) |
$1,229 ($21), $716 ($11) |
$1,712 ($39), $1,093 ($23) |
$1,630 ($32), $952 ($17) |
$2,192 ($70), $1,217 ($42) |
Note: All numbers presented in parentheses are standard errors of the given estimate.