title: Chronic conditions and medical expenditures among non-institutionalized adults in the United States.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study sought to examine medical expenditures among non-institutionalized adults in the United States with one or more chronic conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using data from the 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component (HC), we explored total and out-of-pocket medical, hospital, physician office, and prescription drug expenditures for non-institutionalized adults 18 and older with and without chronic conditions. We examined relationships between expenditure differences and predisposing, enabling, and need factors using recent, nationally representative data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals with chronic conditions experienced higher total spending than those with no chronic conditions, even after controlling for confounding factors. This relationship persisted with age. Out-of-pocket spending trends mirrored total expenditure trends across health care categories. Additional population characteristics that were associated with high health care expenditures were race/ethnicity, marital status, insurance status, and education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high costs associated with having one or more chronic conditions indicates a need for more robust interventions to target population groups who are most at risk.
authors.affiliation: Department of Information Management, Da-Yeh University, Changhua, 51591, Taiwan. dclee@mail.dyu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: De-Chih
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy & Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA. lshi2@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Leiyu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Primary Care Policy Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA. gpierre2@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pierre
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Primary Care Policy Center, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA. jzhu19@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Jinsheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health and Center of Migrant Health Policy, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510080, P.R. China. huruwei@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ruwei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult