Table 2.
Characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries with untreated functional hearing trouble by service utilization, 2017.
| Any medical provider or prescriptive drug use | Medical provider visit | Prescriptive drugs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Either MP or PD Use | No | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Unweighted sample | 873 | 4,266 | 2,423 | 2,680 | 1,636 | 3,467 |
| Weighted population | 4,214,409 | 16,587,213 | 10,432,013 | 10,369,609 | 7,480,263 | 13,321,359 |
| Population distribution (%) | 20% | 80% | 50% | 50% | 36% | 64% |
| Age | ||||||
| <65 | 12% | 15%*** | 15.38% | 13%*** | 11% | 16%*** |
| 65-74 | 58% | 45% | 49% | 48% | 55% | 44% |
| 75-84 | 22% | 27% | 26% | 27% | 24% | 28% |
| 85+ | 8% | 12% | 10% | 13% | 10% | 12% |
| Women | 40% | 54%*** | 49% | 53%*** | 42% | 56%*** |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||
| White | 88% | 83%* | 84% | 85% | 89% | 82%*** |
| Black | 7% | 9% | 8% | 8% | 6% | 10% |
| Other | 5% | 8% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 9% |
| Education | ||||||
| Less than high school | 12% | 17%*** | 17% | 15% | 10% | 19%*** |
| High school graduate | 53% | 52% | 53% | 52% | 52% | 53% |
| Completed college | 35% | 31% | 31% | 33% | 38% | 28% |
| Income relative to FPL | ||||||
| <100% | 9% | 15%*** | 14% | 13% | 7% | 18%*** |
| 100-149% | 11% | 15% | 15% | 14% | 10% | 17% |
| 150-199% | 10% | 12% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 200-399% | 28% | 28% | 27% | 29% | 29% | 28% |
| 400%+ | 43% | 30% | 33% | 32% | 45% | 25% |
| Living arrangement | ||||||
| Alone | 23% | 28%*** | 26% | 28%*** | 24% | 28%*** |
| Spouse | 57% | 49% | 50% | 51% | 58% | 46% |
| Children/family | 11% | 15% | 14% | 14% | 10% | 17% |
| Other | 9% | 8% | 10% | 7% | 8% | 9% |
| Rural | 25% | 23% | 23% | 23% | 24% | 23% |
| Cognitive impairment | 6% | 11%*** | 8% | 12%*** | 8% | 10%*** |
| Supplemental insurance coverage | ||||||
| Medicare only | 31% | 11%*** | 18% | 13%*** | 28% | 8%*** |
| Medicaid | 5% | 21% | 18% | 17% | 4% | 25% |
| Employer | 36% | 17% | 21% | 20% | 37% | 12% |
| MA | 14% | 28% | 23% | 28% | 15% | 31% |
| Medigap | 14% | 23% | 19% | 22% | 16% | 24% |
| Has trouble hearing | ||||||
| A little trouble | 91% | 88%* | 89% | 88% | 91% | 88%*** |
| A lot of trouble | 9% | 12% | 11% | 12% | 9% | 12% |
| Has trouble with vision | 37% | 47%*** | 44% | 47%* | 40% | 48%*** |
| Number of chronic conditions | ||||||
| 0 | 13% | 5% | 9% | 5%*** | 11% | 5%*** |
| 1-2 | 44% | 34% | 40% | 31% | 40% | 33% |
| 3-5 | 35% | 47% | 40% | 49% | 40% | 47% |
| 6+ | 8% | 14% | 11% | 15% | 9% | 15% |
| Number of ADLs | ||||||
| 0 ADLs | 71% | 64%*** | 64% | 67%* | 71% | 62%*** |
| 1 ADL | 14% | 15% | 15% | 14% | 15% | 15% |
| 2+ ADLs | 15% | 21% | 21% | 19% | 14% | 23% |
| Has a helper | 28% | 34%*** | 34% | 32%* | 27% | 36%*** |
| Has a personal computer at home | 76% | 67%*** | 67% | 70%* | 78% | 64%*** |
| Ever use the Internet to get info | 70% | 61%*** | 62% | 63% | 70% | 58%*** |
ADLs, activities of daily living; FPL, federal poverty level; HS, high school; MP, medical provider; PD, prescription drugs. Source: Authors' analysis of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey 2017. P-value < 0.001*** < 0.01** < 0.05*.