TABLE 1.

Children ages 3–7 years continuously enrolled in noncapitated large-employer plans and mean spending, by calendar year^a

Year	All enrollees			Enrollees with current-year ASD				Enrollees without current-year ASD			Spending on children with ASD as a % of spending on all children
		Spending (2017 $)				Spending (2017 $)			Spending (2017 $)
	N	M±SD	Median	N	%	M±SD	Median	N	M±SD	Median
2011	760,791	2,086±13,502	708	4,246	.56	13,198±30,661	6,245	756,545	2,023±13,317	703	3.5
2012	786,994	2,075±12,110	696	4,813	.61	13,126±27,054	6,303	782,181	2,007±11,928	691	3.9
2013	803,608	2,099±12,804	674	5,382	.67	14,316±34,474	6,573	798,226	2,016±12,492	668	4.6
2014	795,693	2,109±13,179	665	6,090	.77	15,140±36,786	6,830	789,603	2,009±12,779	659	5.5
2015	756,019	2,236±15,500	667	6,550	.87	16,600±42,217	6,871	749,469	2,110±14,998	660	6.4
2016	742,661	2,332±17,387	677	6,989	.94	17,387±33,808	7,535	735,672	2,189±16,990	669	7.0
2017	722,348	2,372±15,145	678	7,561	1.05	19,955±38,820	8,110	714,787	2,186±14,579	670	8.8
% change, 2011–2017	−5	14b	−4	78	8c	51b	30	−6	8b	−5	151c

^aSource: MarketScan Commercial database, 2011–2017. Expenditures were adjusted for inflation to 2017 U.S. dollars by using the U.S. gross domestic product deflator. Children with current-year autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses had two or more ASD claims on separate days in the calendar year.

^bp<.001, two-sample t tests (immediate form) for the changes in mean expenditures between 2011 and 2017.

^cp<.001, two-sample tests of proportions (immediate form) for the changes between 2011 and 2017 in the percentage of enrollees with current-year ASD and in spending on children with ASD as a percentage of spending on all children.