Healthcare Expenditures Among Persons with High Expenses

Healthcare expenditures for the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population surpassed $2 trillion in 2019, yet the majority of these expenses were concentrated in a small percentage of the population. This data visualization, based on data from AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2014 to 2019, shows dollar amounts spent on healthcare by people with high healthcare costs. The visualization allows users to explore the data by expenditure percentile (e.g., top 1%, top 5%) for mean expenses, condition (e.g., hypertension, diabetes), demographic group (age, race), payment source (e.g., Medicare), and type of service (e.g., inpatient stays).

Highlights:

• Expenses: Mean expenditures for persons with the top 1% of expenses were around $130,000 in 2019, while mean expenditures for persons with the bottom 50% of expenses were around $374 during the year.
• Conditions: In 2018 and 2019, hypertension and osteoarthritis/other non-traumatic joint disorders were the most commonly treated conditions among persons with the top 5 percent of expenses.
• Categories – Age/Race: Persons ages 65 and older and Whites were disproportionately represented in the top expenditure tiers in 2016-2019.
• Categories – Sources of Payment: Over 70% of aggregate expenses for persons with the top 5 percent of expenses were paid for by private insurance or Medicare during 2016-2019.
• Categories – Type of Service: For 2016-2019, Inpatient hospital care accounted for about 36-40 percent of expenses for persons with the top 5 percent of expenses.

Sources:

• MEPS Statistical Brief #540: Concentration of Healthcare Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2019
• MEPS Statistical Brief #533: Concentration of Healthcare Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2018
• MEPS Statistical Brief #528: Concentration of Healthcare Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2017
• MEPS Statistical Brief #521: Concentration of Health Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2016
• MEPS Statistical Brief #506: Concentration of Health Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2015
• MEPS Statistical Brief #497: Concentration of Health Expenditures in the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2014