Medical expenses

[Xema]

Twice in the past couple of months I’ve run across the assertion that “Sixty [or 75] percent of the total cost of medical care in the US is expended on white males in the final two [or four] months of their lives.”

This seemed a trifle implausible to me, and this impression was enhanced by the fact that neither of the women asserting this could mention a checkable source for this info. But I’ve been unable to come up with much that would confirm or deny the statement. So I ask:

Has anyone else heard this?

Is it true? False? Where is it discussed with authority?

Are there any reliable internet sources that break down U.S. medical expenses by age/sex/ethnicity/disease/region/etc.?

[Qadgop_the_Mercotan]

Principal Findings. From 1992 to 1996, mean annual medical expenditures (1996 dollars) for persons aged 65 and older were $37,581 during the last year of life versus $7,365 for nonterminal years. Mean total last–year–of–life expenditures did not differ greatly by age at death. However, non–Medicare last–year–of–life expenditures were higher and Medicare last–year–of–life expenditures were lower for those dying at older ages. Last–year–of–life expenses constituted 22 percent of all medical, 26 percent of Medicare, 18 percent of all non–Medicare expenditures, and 25 percent of Medicaid expenditures.

From: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/abstract.asp?aid=98&iid=6&ref=0017-9124&vid=37

These are the best numbers I could find, that actually had some solid data behind them. What do they add up to? The last year of life costs 5 times more than the previous years average per year. So maybe there’s something to it. Tho I don’t know where the “white male” part comes in.

[Xema]

Thanks, QtM.

The statement that last–year–of–life expenses were 22% of all medical expenses seems to directly contradict the view that last-4-months-of-life expenses for white males were 60% of all medical expenses.