Medical care
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Comparative Study
Quantifying income-related inequality in healthcare delivery in the United States.
Numerous studies have found that high-income Americans use more medical care than their low-income counterparts, irrespective of medical "need." The methods employed in these studies, however, make it difficult to evaluate differences in the degree of income-related inequality in utilization across population subgroups. In this study, we derive a summary index to quantify income-related inequality in need-adjusted medical care expenditures and report values of the index for adults and children in the United States. ⋯ There exists income-related inequality in medical care expenditures in the United States, and it favors the wealthy. The inequality is highest among seniors despite Medicare, intermediate among working-age adults, and lowest among children.