Medicare Gaps Leave Many With Big Bill at End of Life, Study Finds
Health care spending in the final 5 years exceeds total household assets for one in four seniors
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_129279.html
(*this news item will not be available after 12/13/2012)
Friday, September 14, 2012
FRIDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Many U.S. seniors have trouble saving enough money to handle health care costs beyond what Medicare covers, a new study suggests.As a result, a significant portion of their savings and other assets go to paying their end-of-life costs when they die.
In the last five years of life, out-of-pocket co-payments and deductibles, and the high cost of home care services, assisted living and long-term nursing home care cause 25 percent of seniors to spend more than their total non-housing assets, the study found.
"The biggest problem for many families is covering long-term care," said study author Dr. Amy Kelley, an assistant professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in New York City.
Kelley became interested in the issue of cost in the final years of life by working with patients and families who are struggling to make decisions while facing financial challenges. "I see it every day. Individuals facing retirement may not be aware of what Medicare doesn't cover," she said.
The study used 2002-2008 data from the federally funded U.S. Health and Retirement Study, conducted at the University of Michigan over the past two decades.
Kelley and her colleagues found that the average out-of-pocket health care spending by households of Medicare recipients in the last five years of life was nearly $39,000. And 10 percent of recipients spent more than $89,000, while 5 percent of recipients spent more than $139,000.
More than 75 percent of households spent at least $10,000, while 11 percent of single and 9 percent of married households spent more than $100,000.
The amount of spending varied with the person's illness. Those with Alzheimer's disease or dementia spent the most for health care, averaging about $66,000, more than double that of those with cancer or gastrointestinal disease, who spent about $31,000.
In looking at the money spent compared to the percentage of assets, the data do not include the value of an individual's or couple's residence or other owned housing. Those assets could be used to help pay costs either during the last five years or after death, Kelley said.
The statistics used for this study were collected by interviewing family members of 3,209 deceased people about both total out-of-pocket health care expenditures in the last five years of life and baseline household assets. All measurements were adjusted for inflation to 2008 dollars.
The study appeared online Sept. 4 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
"The sad news is that it's going to be much more expensive to grow old," said Olivia Mitchell, a professor of insurance and risk management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.
Mitchell said the study shows why it's difficult to save for those last five years. "Do you focus on the mean or the tails?" she asked. In other words, you don't know whether you'll need to reserve $22,000 or $140,000 to meet the costs of care in the end of life, she said.
"To be 90 percent sure your expenses [at the end of life] will be covered," Mitchell explained, "you would need about $400,000, plus the cost of purchasing Medigap," an insurance policy sold by private insurance companies that supplements Medicare benefits, in an effort to cover the gaps in health care coverage.
The authors said that "uninsured, out-of-pocket expenditures are likely to continue their growth, whether because of growth in health care spending, or a great reliance on co-payments and deductibles to scale back Medicare growth." They predict that as more baby boomers retire, they "could face a sharply diminished financial future as they confront their recently depleted nest egg following the illness and death of a spouse."
The bottom line is that you've got to plan for retirement early, Mitchell said. "Save more. Tighten your belts. If you don't think about retirement until the kids are in college, it's really too late."
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Chronic Pain May Cost U.S. $635 Billion a Year
Health care expenses, lost productivity included in estimate
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_129278.html
(*this news item will not be available after 12/13/2012)
Friday, September 14, 2012
FRIDAY, Sept. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Americans spend as much as $635 billion each year on the direct and indirect costs associated with chronic pain, according to a new study.
That's more than the annual costs associated with cancer, heart disease and diabetes, said study authors Darrell Gaskin and Patrick Richard, health economists at Johns Hopkins University. They based their estimate on health care costs and lost worker productivity associated with chronic pain.
The researches analyzed the 2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to measure the incremental health care costs for people affected by chronic pain -- including pain that interferes with work, joint pain, arthritis and disabilities -- and compared them to costs for people without chronic pain. The study involved more than 20,200 U.S. adults.
The costs of certain conditions were calculated for a variety of payers of health care services, the researchers noted.
The study, published in the Journal of Pain, found average health care costs for adults were $4,475. People suffering from moderate pain paid $4,516 more in health care costs than those without pain, the researchers said. Patients with severe pain spent $3,210 more than people with only moderate pain. Costs were also $4,048 higher for those with joint pain, $5,838 higher for people with arthritis and $9,680 more for those with functional disabilities.
When prevalence of pain conditions was assessed, moderate pain accounted for 10 percent, severe pain accounted for 11 percent and disability represented 12 percent. Estimates for joint pain and arthritis were higher. They accounted for 33 percent and 25 percent of prevalence estimates, respectively.
The researchers noted that adults affected by chronic pain missed more workdays than people without pain. This affected their annual hours worked and hourly wages. The study concluded the total cost associated with pain in the United States was at least $560 billion and possibly as high as $635 billion, according to a release from the American Pain Society.
Broken down, the total incremental costs of health care resulting from chronic pain ranged from $261 billion to $300 billion. And the costs associated with lost productivity ranged from $299 billion to $334 billion. Although the per-person cost of pain is less than the cost of other diseases, the researchers said the total cost of chronic pain is higher. They said the costs associated with chronic pain would be even greater if they took into account nursing home residents, military personnel, prisoners, children and caregivers.
SOURCE: American Pain Society, news release, Sept. 11, 2012 That's more than the annual costs associated with cancer, heart disease and diabetes, said study authors Darrell Gaskin and Patrick Richard, health economists at Johns Hopkins University. They based their estimate on health care costs and lost worker productivity associated with chronic pain.
The researches analyzed the 2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to measure the incremental health care costs for people affected by chronic pain -- including pain that interferes with work, joint pain, arthritis and disabilities -- and compared them to costs for people without chronic pain. The study involved more than 20,200 U.S. adults.
The costs of certain conditions were calculated for a variety of payers of health care services, the researchers noted.
The study, published in the Journal of Pain, found average health care costs for adults were $4,475. People suffering from moderate pain paid $4,516 more in health care costs than those without pain, the researchers said. Patients with severe pain spent $3,210 more than people with only moderate pain. Costs were also $4,048 higher for those with joint pain, $5,838 higher for people with arthritis and $9,680 more for those with functional disabilities.
When prevalence of pain conditions was assessed, moderate pain accounted for 10 percent, severe pain accounted for 11 percent and disability represented 12 percent. Estimates for joint pain and arthritis were higher. They accounted for 33 percent and 25 percent of prevalence estimates, respectively.
The researchers noted that adults affected by chronic pain missed more workdays than people without pain. This affected their annual hours worked and hourly wages. The study concluded the total cost associated with pain in the United States was at least $560 billion and possibly as high as $635 billion, according to a release from the American Pain Society.
Broken down, the total incremental costs of health care resulting from chronic pain ranged from $261 billion to $300 billion. And the costs associated with lost productivity ranged from $299 billion to $334 billion. Although the per-person cost of pain is less than the cost of other diseases, the researchers said the total cost of chronic pain is higher. They said the costs associated with chronic pain would be even greater if they took into account nursing home residents, military personnel, prisoners, children and caregivers.
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Copyright (c) 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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- Chronic Pain
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