Seniors' Healthcare Costs Soar, Even With Inflation Adjustment

Other interesting facts from the study include:

• Medicare paid a significantly higher portion of the total healthcare bill for seniors in 2006 (60.9%) compared with 1996 (56.5%), while a smaller percentage was paid by private insurance, (14.1% versus 18.8%).


• In each year, fewer than one in 20 seniors had no medical expenses.


• At the top and the bottom end of the spending spectrum, one-fourth of the elderly had annual expenses exceeding $9,289 while one-fourth had expenses under $1,752 or no expenses.


• The percentage of seniors with expenses in dental care, prescription drugs, physician office visits, and hospitalization expenses did not change significantly between 1996 and 2006, but the portion of expenses attributed to emergency room care was "notably higher" in 2006 (20.4%) versus 1996, (13.2%).


• Hospital care expenses for inpatient care declined from 43.2% to 37.2%, but the portion for ambulance service increased from 23.4% to 28.7%.

The statistics were culled from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household and Medical Provider Components for civilians. All costs were adjusted to 2006 dollars. The federal study included cost figures for 34.1 million people age 65 and over in 1996, and 38 million seniors in 2006.

Sources of payment included in the report included those paid by the service user or another family member, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid/SCHIP, Indian Health Services, military providers, and other care provided by the federal government, state, and local clinics.