This Article Reprint (PDF) Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Archive Download to Citation Manager Reprints & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (16) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gornick, M. Articles by Lubitz, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gornick, M. Articles by Lubitz, J. Related Collections Medicare

Health Affairs, Vol 12, Issue 2, 140-150
Copyright © 1993 by Project HOPE

DataWatch

A longitudinal perspective on patterns of Medicare payments

To provide insight into the stream of Medicare payments over time, a sixteen-year longitudinal study examines three age cohorts of beneficiaries, looking separately at beneficiaries who died during the study period and those who survived. The common wisdom that a small minority of the population accounts for a large majority of health care expenditures is tempered when health care use is examined over an extended period of time. By putting high average costs in the final years of life in the context of a cohort's total lifetime experience, the study shows a leveling of spending over time, resulting in a lower concentration of health care resources on a small fraction of the population.

                      What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. L. Daviglus, K. Liu, A. Pirzada, L. L. Yan, D. B. Garside, P. Greenland, L. M. Manheim, A. R. Dyer, R. Wang, J. Lubitz, et al. Cardiovascular Risk Profile Earlier in Life and Medicare Costs in the Last Year of Life Arch Intern Med, May 9, 2005; 165(9): 1028 - 1034. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. C. Spillman and J. Lubitz The Effect of Longevity on Spending for Acute and Long-Term Care N. Engl. J. Med., May 11, 2000; 342(19): 1409 - 1415. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Lubitz, J. Beebe, and C. Baker Longevity and Medicare Expenditures N. Engl. J. Med., April 13, 1995; 332(15): 999 - 1003. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]