Healthcare Expenditures Among Persons With High Expenses

This data visualization, based on data from AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2014 to 2021, 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: After adjusting for inflation, persons in the top 1 percent expenditure tier in 2021 had an average of $166,980 in healthcare expenditures during the year, nearly $30,000 higher than in 2019 or 2018.
• Conditions: The most commonly treated condition among persons in the top 5 percent expenditure tier in 2021 was hypertension (45.9%), followed by hyperlipidemia (33.7%), and musculoskeletal pain and back problems (30.4%).
• Categories—Age/Race: Persons ages 65 and older and Whites were disproportionately represented in the top expenditure tiers in 2016-2021.
• Categories—Sources of Payment: Medicare and private insurance paid for approximately three-quarters of expenses for persons in the top 5 percent expenditure tier in 2021.
• Categories—Type of Service: For persons in the bottom 50 percent expenditure tier, more than half of their medical expenses were for ambulatory events.

Sources:

• MEPS Statistical Brief #556: Concentration of Healthcare Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2021
• MEPS Statistical Brief #546: Concentration of Healthcare Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of Persons with High Expenses, U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2020
• 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