Health expenditures and elderly adults.
The purpose of the study was to examine how health expenditures vary among elderly households and how expenditure patterns across other commodity groups are influenced by various factors, including higher medical expenditures. Household expenditure data for five different age groups of elderly households included in the 1972-1973 Consumer Expenditure Survey were used in the analysis. Multiple regression procedures were used to estimate a complete set of budget share equations with and without health expenditures as an independent variable. Results indicate readjustments in expenditure patterns resulting from higher direct medical payments are likely to lead to significant reductions in food, housing, transportation, and taxes under current policy. This could have important long-run implications for elderly adults as well as for the entire economy. The research also indicated the importance of controlling for age differences when studying expenditure patterns of elderly adults.
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002017:Budgets; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006801:Humans; D007250:Inflation, Economic; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D008875:Middle Aged; D012179:Retirement; D014481:United States