The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #54558

Amy K. Taylor, PhD, Center for Cost , Access and Financing Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, 301-427-1660, ATaylor@ahrq.gov and Sharon L. Larson, PhD, Center for Cost and Financing Studies, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), 2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite 500, Rockville, MD 20852.

There have been very few studies reported in the literature that provide a comprehensive examination of women’s health care use and expenditures in relation to their social, demographic and health characteristics. Using data from the 2000 MEPS, this analysis will examine women’s use of medical care, types of services used, and health care expenditures within subgroups of women. The paper will present tables showing expenditures for different types of health services, including ambulatory, inpatient, prescription drug, home health, and preventive care, and use bivariate and multivariate analysis to explore whether subpopulations of women have higher expenditures within these categories. Preliminary data show that although Black and Hispanic women are less likely to use ambulatory services than white women, their rates of hospitalization and expenditures for all health services are not significantly different. Increased knowledge about which women have high expenditures will aid policy makers and providers in developing services for specific populations of women. Further, policy makers will benefit from information about which health services are the most costly for women and how women finance their health care. These analyses will provide estimates of sources of payment for health care services and show the financial burden of out-of-pocket spending for medical care by different groups of women. Given the increased attention to disparities in health care, these analyses will help inform policy makers about the intersection of a variety of characteristics (gender, age, race, ethnicity, poverty status) and their impact on health care utilization and expenditures.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe expenditures by women for different types of health services, and how these expenditures are financed.
• Discuss the affect of socio-economic characteristics on the use of health services by women.

Keywords: Healthcare Costs, Women

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.