The Financial Burden of Health Care Spending: Larger for Medicare Households than for Non-Medicare Households
Issue Brief
Medicare offers health and financial protection to nearly 60 million adults ages 65 and over and younger people with disabilities. However, the high cost of premiums, cost-sharing requirements, and gaps in the Medicare benefit package can result in beneficiaries devoting a substantial share of their total household spending to health care costs.This analysis compares health-related expenses as a share of total household spending for Medicare and non-Medicare households, using the 2016 Consumer Expenditure Survey. We estimate how much Medicare and non-Medicare households spent on health care, including premiums, compared to other household spending (e.g., housing, transportation, and food).