Medicare enrollees in the highest income category spend a little more out-of-pocket on health insurance premiums of all kinds, and that helps hold down their average out-of-pocket spending on health care.
Analysts at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation have reported that finding in a look at Medicare enrollees’ out-of-pocket spending based on Medicare program survey data. The analysts found that the 38 million people in Medicare in 2010 averaged $4,734 per year in out-of-pocket spending, or 44 percent more than what Medicare enrollees were averaging in 2000.
The consumers who earned $50,000 or more in 2010 spent an average of $2,507 on health premiums of all kinds, including basic Medicare premiums, Medicare supplement insurance premiums, long-term care insurance (LTCI) premiums, and other types of health insurance premiums.
The high-income consumers spent more than the overall average of $1,989 on insurance premiums in 2010, and more than members of any other income category. The money they spent on insurance helped them hold out-of-pocket spending on health services to $2,692, which was somewhat less than the average of 2,744 for all Medicare enrollees. Their total out-of-pocket spending was $5,199, or a little more than the overall average.