One Percent of U.S. Residents Account for 22% of Total Health Care Expenditures, Brief Finds
One percent of the U.S. population accounted for 22% of total health care expenditures in 2002, and the half of the population that received the least amount of care accounted for only 3% of expenditures, according to a statistical brief released last month by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, CQ HealthBeat reports. For the brief, AHRQ used 2002 and 2003 data from the household component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
According to the brief, about one-fourth of residents in the top one percent of health care users during 2002 remained in that percentile during 2003. The brief also highlights differences in age, race, ethnicity, sex, health status and health insurance status among residents in the top 10% of health care users during 2002 and 2003 and those in the lower half (CQ HealthBeat, 5/26).
The brief is available online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the brief.