The Economic Impact of Disability in the U.S., 1997: Total and Incremental Estimates

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the increment in medical care expenditures and wage losses associated with disability in the adult population after taking into account other characteristics of adults with disabilities. Methods: We used the 1997 Medical Expenditures Panel Survey Household Component (MEPS), a national probability sample of the non-institutionalized population, to tabulate all medical care expenditures of the adult MEPS respondents, stratified by disability status, and then used regression techniques to estimate the increment of health care expenditures attributable to disability. We also estimated the magnitude of the earnings losses sustained by persons with disability using the same methods. Results: Adults with disability incurred mean total medical care expenditures of $8,035, for a total of $182.6 billion. The mean increment in medical care expenditures specifically attributable to disability among those 18 and older was $2,953, for a total of about $65.9 billion. Persons with disability ages 18 through 64 earned $10,191 less on average than other persons these ages, for a total of $115.3 billion. The average increment in earnings losses attributable to disability was $13,160, for a total of $148.9 billion. Conclusion: A large proportion of the total medical care expenditures of adults with disability would occur in the absence of the disability, but persons with disability actually earned more than would be expected on the basis of their other characteristics.