COMPARISON OF OUT-OF-POCKET HEALTH EXPENDITURE ESTIMATES FROM THE 1987 NATIONAL MEDICAL EXPENDITURE SURVEY AND THE CONSUMER EXPENDITURE SURVEY·

The 1987 National Expenditure Survey was conducted by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, USPHS to provide an assessment of the health care utilization, expenditures, sources of payment and health coverage of the civilian noninstitutional population. The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX) is sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and provides a continuous and comprehensive flow of data on the buying habits of consumers though the collection of information on the expenditures, income, and socio-demographic characteristics of customer units. It is designed to support Consumer Price Index revisions and social and economic analyses. Differences in family out-of-pocket expenditures for hospital services, physician services, services by other practitioners, lab tests and x-ray services, nursing services, eye glasses and contact lenses, dental services, prescription medicines are compared. Differences in the distributions of these expenditures are explored as are the association of differences with population characteristics.