TY - JOUR T1 - Out-of-pocket spending in the last five years of life. JF - J Gen Intern Med Y1 - 2013 A1 - Amy Kelley A1 - Kathleen McGarry A1 - Sean Fahle A1 - Samuel M Marshall A1 - Qingling Du A1 - Jonathan S Skinner KW - Aged KW - Cause of Death KW - Female KW - Health Expenditures KW - Health Services for the Aged KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Marital Status KW - Medicare KW - Retrospective Studies KW - Socioeconomic factors KW - Terminal Care KW - United States AB -

BACKGROUND: A key objective of the Medicare program is to reduce risk of financial catastrophe due to out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures. Yet little is known about cumulative financial risks arising from out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures faced by older adults, particularly near the end of life.

DESIGN: Using the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study (HRS) cohort, we conducted retrospective analyses of Medicare beneficiaries' total out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures over the last 5 years of life.

PARTICIPANTS: We identified HRS decedents between 2002 and 2008; defined a 5 year study period using each subject's date of death; and excluded those without Medicare coverage at the beginning of this period (nā€‰=ā€‰3,209).

MAIN MEASURES: We examined total out-of-pocket healthcare expenditures in the last 5 years of life and expenditures as a percentage of baseline household assets. We then stratified results by marital status and cause of death. All measurements were adjusted for inflation to 2008 US dollars.

RESULTS: Average out-of-pocket expenditures in the 5 years prior to death were $38,688 (95 % Confidence Interval $36,868, $40,508) for individuals, and $51,030 (95 % CI $47,649, $54,412) for couples in which one spouse dies. Spending was highly skewed, with the median and 90th percentile equal to $22,885 and $89,106, respectively, for individuals, and $39,759 and $94,823, respectively, for couples. Overall, 25 % of subjects' expenditures exceeded baseline total household assets, and 43 % of subjects' spending surpassed their non-housing assets. Among those survived by a spouse, 10 % exceeded total baseline assets and 24 % exceeded non-housing assets. By cause of death, average spending ranged from $31,069 for gastrointestinal disease to $66,155 for Alzheimer's disease.

CONCLUSION: Despite Medicare coverage, elderly households face considerable financial risk from out-of-pocket healthcare expenses at the end of life. Disease-related differences in this risk complicate efforts to anticipate or plan for health-related expenditures in the last 5 years of life.

PB - 28 VL - 28 IS - 2 U1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22948931?dopt=Abstract U2 - PMC3614143 U4 - Public policy/Medicare/End of life/health expenditures/out of pocket costs ER - TY - RPRT T1 - Out-of-Pocket Medical Expenses and Retirement Security Y1 - 2008 A1 - Kathleen McGarry A1 - Jonathan S Skinner KW - Medicare/Medicaid/Health Insurance KW - Retirement Planning and Satisfaction U4 - Medical Expenditures/retirement security/retirement security/retirement planning ER -