Health care expenditures among working-age adults with physical disabilities: variations by disability spans

Data on health care costs for working-age adults with physical disabilities are sparse and the dynamic nature of disability is not captured.

To assess the effect of 3 types of disability status (persistent disability, temporary disability, and no disability) on health care expenditures, out-of-pocket (OOP) spending, and financial burden.

Data from Medical Expenditure Panel Survey panel 12 (2007-2008) were used. Respondents were classified into 3 groups. Medians of average annual expenditures, OOP expenditures, and financial ratios were weighted. The package R was used for quantile regression analyses.

Fifteen percent of the working-age population reported persistent disabilities and 7% had temporary disabilities. The persistent disability group had the greatest unadjusted annual medians for total expenditures ($4234), OOP expenses ($591), and financial burden ratios (1.59), followed by the temporary disability group ($1612, $388, 0.71 respectively). The persistent disability group paid approximately 15% of total health care expenditures out-of-pocket, while the temporary disability group and the no disability group each paid 22% out-of-pocket. After adjusting for other factors, quantile regression shows that the persistent disability group had significantly higher total expenditures, OOP expenses, and financial burden ratios (coefficients 1664, 156, 0.58 respectively) relative to the no disability group at the 50th percentile. Results for the temporary disability group show a similar trend except for OOP expenses.

People who have disabling conditions for a longer period have better financial protection against OOP health care expenses but face greater financial burdens because of their higher out-of-pocket expenditures and their socioeconomic disadvantages.