Retirement Security and Health Costs

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Wharton Pension Research Council Working Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
Aging
retiree health
healthcare spending
Economics
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Follette, Glenn
Sheiner, Louise
Contributor
Abstract

Health care spending has increased faster than incomes for decades, but the pace slowed materially after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Using data from various waves of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey we examine what has happened to out-of-pocket health care spending by different income groups of the elderly over time, and how that has affected resources available for other consumption. We find that the slower pace of health care spending from the ACA was particularly beneficial to the elderly, who spend a greater share of income on health care than the nonelderly. We then examine how out-of-pocket spending on health care by the elderly will change going forward, given current projections for health care spending to accelerate again, and show that resources available for other spending may fall appreciably for lower income groups.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2022-08-01
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Recommended citation
Collection