Research Findings # 0

Table 3. Hospital inpatient services^a: median and mean expenditures per person with expense and distribution of expenditures by source of payment, U.S., 1997

Annual total expense per person with expense

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Percent distribution of total expenses by source of payment

Population characteristic

Total population (in thousands)

Percent with expense

Median

Mean

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Total expenses (in millions)

Out of Pocket

Private Insurance^b

Medicare

Medicaid

Other public programs^c

Other^d

Total

271,279

7.2

$5,479

$10,796

$209,435

2.6

43.1

37.2

6.9

4.9

5.3

Age in years

Under 65

237,093

5.5

4,436

9,178

119,392

3.2

64.4

7.0

11.1

6.2*

8.0

Under 6

23,791

4.7

2,606

6,474

7,234

1.5*

58.2

1.5*

19.1*

0.5*

19.3*

6-17

48,127

1.6

3,986

10,716

8,492

2.4

83.0

0.5*

9.8

0.7*

3.6*

18-44

108,879

6.0

3,862

6,639

43,378

3.8

63.4

6.4

15.1

2.0

9.4*

45-64

56,295

8.1

6,626

13,208

60,288

3.1

63.3

9.0

7.5

10.7*

6.3*

65 and over

34,185

18.7

7,838

14,090

90,044

1.7

14.8

77.3

1.3

3.1*

1.7

Sex

Male

132,605

5.8

6,610

12,966

99,552

2.5

38.8

5.6

8.9*

5.5*

Female

138,673

8.5

4,845

9,375

109,883

2.7

47.0

35.8

8.1

1.3*

5.1

Race/ethnicity

White and other

206,082

7.4

5,691

11,296

171,550

2.2

44.4

39.3

4.9

4.6*

4.5

Black

34,086

7.1

4,760

8,524

20,683

4.6*

38.1

30.3

14.2

4.0*

8.9*

Hispanic

31,111

5.7

4,106

9,634

17,203

3.5*

36.6

24.5

18.2

8.4*

8.8*

Health insurance status^e,f

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Under age 65:

Any private

173,962

5.1

5,029

9,939

89,038

2.7

85.6

3.2

1.6

4.7*

2.2

Public only

29,828

10.4

3,640

7,116

22,048

4.2*

3.2*

25.0

53.7

6.5*

7.5

Uninsured

33,304

2.9

2982

8,730

8,306

6.5*

0.0

21.6*

71.9

Age 65 and over:

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Medicare only

8,550

18.5

7,468

12,582

19,869

3.6*

0.0

84.9

0.0

4.9*

6.7

Medicare and private

21,690

17.6

7,883

14,576

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55,780

0.9

23.6

74.5

0.3*

0.5*

0.2*

Medicare and other public

3,486

25.5

8144

14,707

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13,074

2.1*

0.1*

85.4

7.8

3.8*

0.8

Poverty status^g

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Poor

36,415

10.3

7,883

8,601

32,390

2.6

18.1

43.4

23.7

4.4

7.7

Near-poor

12,233

9.8

5,558

14,657

17,656

1.1*

45.1*

37.5

8.1*

1.4*

6.8*

Low income

38,723

7.5

5,866

9,842

28,472

2.7

26.0

50.2

7.1

9.6*

4.3*

Middle income

89,981

6.9

5,542

11,783

73,418

2.3

49.0

35.1

3.7

5.7*

4.1

High income

93,926

5.6

5,933

10,839

57,500

3.2

57.5

29.9

1.1*

2.7*

5.5*

Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)^e

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MSA

215,782

6.3

5,200

9,221

125,125

2.6

47.4

32.7

8.4

3.8

5.0

Non-MSA

52,621

8.5

5,933

10,379

46,587

2.8

37.6

46.4

6.1

1.3*

5.7

Census Region

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Northeast

52,394

7.1

5,432

9,690

36,007

2.0

44.6

38.1

7.8

3.8*

3.7

Midwest

63,090

7.0

5,855

11,150

49,017

2.8*

44.1

33.6

5.4

7.0*

7.1*

South

94,929

8.0

5,477

10,613

80,506

2.9

40.7

39.5

7.2

4.3

5.4

West

60,865

6.1

5,179

11,862

43,906

2.2

45.3

36.4

7.2

4.4*

4.5*

Perceived health status^e

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Under 65 years

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Excellent, very good , or good

217,904

4.4

4,005

7,263

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69,168

3.3

70.3

3.8

9.8

2.6

10.2

Fair or Poor

18,876

18.0

5,798

12,278

41,644

3.6*

49.0

13.7

15.5

12.3*

5.9

65 years and over

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Excellent, very good , or good

24,864

11.7

6,863

11,998

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34,950

1.1

17.5*

76.6

1.5*

1.3*

2.0*

Fair or Poor

8,890

36.6

8,428

16,050

52,222

1.9*

13.6

77.5

1.0

4.4*

1.5

^aRoom and board and all hospital diagnostic and laboratory expenses associated with the basic facility charge, payments for separately billed physician inpatient services, and emergency room expenses incurred immediately prior to inpatient stays are included. Expenses for hospital discharges that did not involve an overnight stay, which are included as ambulatory expenses (Table 4), are excluded. Expenses for newborns who left the hospital on the same day as the mother are included in the mother's record.

^bPrivate insurance includes CHAMPUS and CHAMPVA (Armed-Forces-related coverage).

^cOther public programs include Department of Veterans Affairs (except CHAMPVA); other Federal sources (Indian Health Service, military treatment facilities, and other care provided by the Federal Government); other State and local sources (community and neighborhood clinics, State and local health departments, and State programs other than Medicaid); and other public (Medicaid payments reported for persons who were not enrolled in the Medicaid program at any time during the year).

^dOther includes Worker's Compensation; other unclassified sources (e.g., automobile, homeowner's, liability, and other miscellaneous or unknown sources); and other private insurance (any type of private insurance payments reported for persons without private health insurance coverage during the year, as defined in MEPS).

^eNumber of persons and amount of expenses do not add to overall total because data on this variable were not available for some sample persons.

^fUninsured refers to persons uninsured during the entire year. Public and private health insurance categories refer to individuals with public or private insurance at any time during the period; individuals with both public and private insurance and those with CHAMPUS or CHAMPVA (Armed-Forces-related coverage) are classified as having insurance.

^gPoor refers to incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor, over the poverty line through 125 percent of the poverty line; low income, over 125 percent through 200 percent of the poverty line; middle income, over 200 percent to 400 percent of the poverty line; and high income, over 400 percent of the poverty line.

-- Less than 100 sample cases with expenses.

*Relative standard error equal to or greater than 30 percent.

Note: These estimates are for a target population of approximately 271.3 million persons who were in the civilian noninstitutionalized population for all or part of 1997. Percents may not add to 100 because of rounding.

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 1997.

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