A household survey sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Center for Health Statistics shows U.S. healthcare costs should approach $2.4 trillion this year.
The study, published July 29 in (ITALICS) Health Affairs, (END ITALICS) was based on 2002-03 data and showed the public paid 55.5 percent of healthcare costs for the uninsured Ð nearly the same share as the overall population paid for its healthcare costs.
The authors of the study, Thomas Selden and Merrile Sing, said the public in 2002 paid 56.1 percent of all U.S. healthcare costs, with the rest footed by the government.
Despite the magnitude of public spending on healthcare in the United States, the authors claim they know of no recent studies examining its overall distribution within the U.S. population.
The study was based, in part, on AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a set of large-scale surveys of families and individuals, their medical providers and employers nationwide. MEPS is considered by AHRQ to be the most complete source of data on the cost and use of U.S. healthcare and health insurance coverage.
Authors of the study combined MEPS' data with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' National Health Expenditure Projections for 2006-2016.
The study shows that public spending on healthcare among the civilian, non-institutionalized population averaged $2,612 per person in 2002. Other findings include:
(bullet) Children age 18 or under received an average $1,225 of public spending apiece, less than one-fifth the average public spending of $6,921 apiece for seniors.
(bullet) Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) spending benefited minorities more than whites, while Medicare disproportionately benefited whites.
(bullet) Medicare spending for people in poor families was less than twice that for those in high-income families, and tax subsidies strongly favored high-income families.
(bullet) The public sector paid for 45.8 percent of total spending among people in high-income families.
"For the first time since the health reform initiatives of the early 1990s, a major debate has begun in the United States over the proper role of the public sector in the financing and provision of health care," the authors said. "This time around, the stakes are higher because aggregate healthcare spending accounts for a larger (and rising) percentage of U.S. gross domestic product."
Do you think America will find a way to successfully contain healthcare costs? Email your thoughts to Senior Editor Diana Manos at diana.manos@medtechpublishing.com.