title: Personal Out-of-Pocket Health Expenses, United States, 1970.
abstract: Money spent on medical and dental care is an important concern of many families. To alleviate the burden, a large number of families carry health insurance to cover much of this expense. However, there remain some direct out-of- pocket health expenditures for many of us. During 1971 the Health Interview Survey conducted a study to measure the out-of-pocket health expenses of the civilian population not confined to institutions. A self-enumeration questionnaire was mailed to some 11,970 households comprising a representative sample of the Nation's households, the same sample as that used in the last quarter of 1970 for the Health Interview Survey (see the "Source of Data" for details). Information was requested on out-of-pocket expenditures in 1970 for hospital, doctor, dental, or optical services, prescribed medicine, and other medical expenses for each family member as well as the total amount of health insurance premiums (including Medicare premiums) paid directly by the family during 1970. No attempt has been made in the study to measure the total cost of medical and dental care, since it is difficult, if not impossible, for family members to report the amounts paid through insurance benefits, government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, welfare, philanthropy, and other third-party payers. The total amount of national health expenditures, including out-of-pocket costs, is measured by the Social Security Administration and reported in the Social Security Bulletin in several annual series of reports. Another source of expenditure data is the Center for Health Administration Studies of the University of Chicago.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Wilder