Tracking health care costs: 13% of patient medical expenses are out-of-pocket

MDLinx July 9, 2018
Liz Meszaros

In 2015, $1 of every $8 spent on health care by US civilian, noninstitutionalized, nonelderly citizens was out-of-pocket, according to results from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS-HC), the only nationally representative data for estimating health-care expenses at the family level.

MEPS-HC data—which include approximately 97.2 million nonelderly families—were used to estimate the amount that members paid out-of-pocket for medical care received in 2015. The data focus on payment levels according to family income and structure.

The overall median out-of-pocket expenses for health care by nonelderly families in the United States was $451, but these increased significantly with increasing income. Approximately 14% of families had out-of-pocket expenses exceeding $2,500, but the proportion varied greatly by income levels, from...

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