The inequality of medical expenditures for several years in a healthy, nonelderly population.
Previous studies have shown that the distribution of annual medical expenditures for a population is very unequal and remains so for periods of more than 1 year. The authors use a better measure of inequality, the Gini coefficient, to test its persistence for longer periods. This measure is applied to data collected from the Rand Health Insurance Experiment. The experiment enrolled a nonelderly population typical of those covered by employer health plans for periods up to 5 years. The distributions of annual expenditures for this population are highly unequal, in line with previous studies. Inequality declines substantially when longer periods are considered.
Russell
L B
LB
Institute for Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-5070.
Chaudhuri
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D015273:Insurance Selection Bias; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States