Marital status and health care expenditures among the elderly in a managed care organization

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of marital status in and health care expenditures among the elderly in a managed care organization. The study population consisted of 277 functionally impaired elderly people who were 75 years and older enrolled in a managed care organization. In separate analyses, the relationship between marital status and total expenditure per enrollee, the number of outpatient visits, hospital admissions, and emergency department (ED) visits during the two-year study period was examined. The results indicate that married individuals had significantly higher health care expenditures than the unmarried. However, there were no significant differences in number of hospital admissions, number of outpatient visits, and number of ED visits. It would behoove health care administrators and policy makers to take into consideration marital status when planning, designing, and implementing health care policies for the elderly.