Long-Term Trends In The Concentration Of Medicare Spending

Medicare spending is concentrated among a few high-cost beneficiaries who are often targeted by cost-saving interventions. The Continuous Medicare History Sample file was used to analyze trends in the spending concentration over thirty years. Annual expenditures became less concentrated over time, a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inHealth Affairs Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 808 - 816
Main Author Riley, Gerald F
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Health Affairs 01.05.2007
Subjects
Age Distribution
Chronic Disease
Continental Population Groups - statistics & numerical data
Health Care Surveys
Hospital Charges - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Medicare - economics
Medicare - statistics & numerical data
Medicare - trends
Mortality
United States - epidemiology
United States
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Medicare spending is concentrated among a few high-cost beneficiaries who are often targeted by cost-saving interventions. The Continuous Medicare History Sample file was used to analyze trends in the spending concentration over thirty years. Annual expenditures became less concentrated over time, although the year-to-year persistence of person-level high costs remained strong. There was an increase in the prevalence of chronic conditions among high-cost beneficiaries, which supports the rationale for focusing cost-saving interventions on chronic disease management. However, the decrease in concentration may reduce the potential savings from interventions focused on such beneficiaries.
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.26.3.808