TY - JOUR T1 - Age Differences in the Association Between Body Mass Index Class and Annualized Medicare Expenditures. JF - J Aging Health Y1 - 2016 A1 - Daniel O. Clark A1 - Kathleen A Lane A1 - Ambuehl, Roberta A1 - Tu, Wanzhu A1 - Chiung-Ju Liu A1 - Kathleen T. Unroe A1 - Christopher M. Callahan KW - Age Factors KW - Aged KW - Body Mass Index KW - Female KW - Health Expenditures KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Medicare KW - Obesity KW - United States AB -

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to assess the relationship between body mass index (BMI) class and Medicare claims among young-old (65-69), old (70-74), and old-old (75+) adults over a 10-year period.

METHOD: We assessed costs by BMI class and age group among 9,300 respondents to the 1998 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) with linked 1998-2008 Medicare claims data. BMI was classified as normal (18.5-24.9), overweight (25-29.9), mild obesity (30-34.9), or severe obesity (35 or above).

RESULTS: Annualized total Medicare claims adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, education, and smoking history were 109% greater for severely obese young-old adults in comparison with normal weight young-old adults (US$9,751 vs. US$4,663). Total annualized claim differences between the normal weight and severely obese in the old and old-old groups were not statistically significant.

DISCUSSION: Excess Medicare expenditures related to obesity may be concentrated among severely obese young-old adults. Preventing severe obesity among middle and older aged adults may have large cost implications for society.

PB - 28 VL - 28 UR - http://jah.sagepub.com/content/28/1/165 IS - 1 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26112066?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC4691214 ER -