The highly uneven distribution of Medicare payments among elderly beneficiaries, combined with the predictability of some of the expenditures, poses several challenges to the Medicare program. We present information about the distribution of Medicare expenditures among beneficiaries in specific...

In recent years, the use of Medicare-covered home health care and hospice services has grown dramatically. Hospice care, like much home health and nonacute hospital care, is designed to meet the needs of dying patients, who are known to generate disproportionately large costs of care. How has...

Sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and obesity-related chronic diseases have become increasingly common among U.S. adults, posing a major health policy challenge. While individuals may be interested in exercising more to reduce these health risks, they often have difficultly forming long-term...

Newly-developed genetic tests based on restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) promise to facilitate the early detection of genetic diseases. Several such tests are now available for the prenatal detection of cystic fibrosis (CF), a common and costly disease. The tests for CF are...

Providing and financing long-term care of the elderly are among the most challenging policy issues facing the aging American population. This study examines characteristics and selected measures of utilization in the population most likely to use long-term care. It investigates characteristics...

The price sensitivity of demand for nursing home care is a subject of considerable policy interest. Standard methods for measuring price responsiveness are difficult to apply to nursing home care, since accurate price information is usually unavailable and prices may reflect unmeasured quality...

Long-term care is an important means of providing basic and humanitarian care for elderly Americans who are severely disabled. The demand for long-term care is likely to increase dramatically as baby-boomers begin to reach advanced ages. Long-term care has been a focus of health care reform...

This paper describes the likelihood and duration of nursing home admissions experienced by Americans after age 65. Our analysis generates predictions for a representative population, not for one selected to be at high risk of institutionalization, and should therefore be of direct relevance to...

Life tables with specific causes of death, particularly when adjusted for demographic and other personal characteristics, can be important components of cost-effectiveness and other economic studies. However, there are few sources of nationally representative information that can be used to...

In order to gain insight into the possible consequences of prospective payment for university hospitals, we studied 2,025 admissions to the faculty and community services of a university hospital, measuring differences in case mix, costs, and outcomes. The faculty service case mix was...