Medical Expenditures for People with Disabilities in the United States, 1987. Disability Statistics Report 5.

This report presents detailed tables on the medical expenditures of people, from young children to older adults, who are limited in activity or who need assistance in activities of daily living. It uses data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditures Survey and compares these with 1993 estimates. Tables of results are presented on: (1) total and per capita medical expenditures by type of expenditure, activity limitation status, gender, age, sociodemographic characteristics, self-reported health status, and work disability status; and (2) sources of payment for medical expenditures by age group, activity limitation status, and sociodemographic characteristics. Highlights include: 17 percent of the non-institutionalized population are limited in activity and account for 47 percent of total medical care expenditures; 11 percent of these individuals have expenditures of $10,000 or greater; total per capita expenditures are over four times greater for people with activity limitations than for people with no limitations; people limited in activity represent 38 percent of hospitalized persons and 57 percent of expenditures for hospitalization; per capita medical expenditures for white children with activity limitation are nearly twice those for black children; and 4 percent of the non-institutionalized population requires assistance in activities of daily living. An appendix provides standard error data. (DB)