Paying for medical care: the burden on the disabled. The relationship between the distribution of income and the distributions of medical services and payments. 1978

R F Boaz

The study measures the economic vulnerability of disabled persons whose impaired health interfered with their earning ability. This population segment, about one sixth of the total population, represents the extreme both in terms of sensitivity to health problems and losses in economic power. The major findings are given in a nutshell. 1) Inadequate income did not bar the disabled individuals from contact with the medical care system except in the case of the weakest among the weak, the aging women without husbands. This finding suggests that the restraining effect of income can become strong enough to overcome the concern with ill-health, although the inhibiting effect of economic constraints weakens when the concerns with health problems intensifies. (2) Once contact with the health care system had been extablished, there was no evidence to suggest that lack of means to pay for medical services had restricted the quantity of services rendered to the disabled, although inability to pay might have affected the setting in which care was provided. 3) The needed medical care was obtained at a considerable financial sacrifice. As Table 6 shows, the level of direct out-of-pocket payments imposed a heavy burden on low and moderate income households, and this burden eased gradually as household income-levels increased.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007182 Income Revenues or receipts accruing from business enterprise, labor, or invested capital. Income Distribution,Income Generation Programs,Savings,Distribution, Income,Distributions, Income,Income Distributions,Income Generation Program,Incomes,Program, Income Generation,Programs, Income Generation
D008297 Male Males
D008489 Medical Indigency The condition in which individuals are financially unable to access adequate medical care without depriving themselves and their dependents of food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials of living. Indigency, Medical,Indigencies, Medical,Medical Indigencies
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D005102 Health Expenditures The amounts spent by individuals, groups, nations, or private or public organizations for total health care and/or its various components. These amounts may or may not be equivalent to the actual costs (HEALTH CARE COSTS) and may or may not be shared among the patient, insurers, and/or employers. Expenditure,Expenditures, Health,Health Expenditure,Out Of Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Cost,Out-of-Pocket Expense,Out-of-Pocket Payment,Expenditures,Expenditures, Direct,Expenditures, Indirect,Expenditures, Out-of-Pocket,Out-of Pocket Expenditures,Out-of-Pocket Costs,Out-of-Pocket Expenses,Out-of-Pocket Payments,Out-of-Pocket Spending,Cost, Out-of-Pocket,Costs, Out-of-Pocket,Direct Expenditure,Direct Expenditures,Expenditure, Direct,Expenditure, Health,Expenditure, Indirect,Expenditure, Out-of Pocket,Expenditure, Out-of-Pocket,Expenditures, Out of Pocket,Expenditures, Out-of Pocket,Expense, Out-of-Pocket,Expenses, Out-of-Pocket,Indirect Expenditure,Indirect Expenditures,Out of Pocket Cost,Out of Pocket Costs,Out of Pocket Expenditures,Out of Pocket Expense,Out of Pocket Expenses,Out of Pocket Payment,Out of Pocket Payments,Out of Pocket Spending,Out-of Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Expenditure,Out-of-Pocket Expenditures,Payment, Out-of-Pocket,Payments, Out-of-Pocket,Spending, Out-of-Pocket
D005260 Female Females
D006233 Disabled Persons Persons with physical or mental disabilities that affect or limit their activities of daily living and that may require special accommodations. Handicapped,People with Disabilities,Persons with Disabilities,Physically Challenged,Physically Handicapped,Physically Disabled,Disabilities, People with,Disabilities, Persons with,Disability, Persons with,Disabled Person,Disabled, Physically,Handicapped, Physically,People with Disability,Person, Disabled,Persons with Disability,Persons, Disabled
D006296 Health Services Services for the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the maintenance of health. Services, Health,Health Service
D006297 Health Services Accessibility The degree to which individuals are inhibited or facilitated in their ability to gain entry to and to receive care and services from the health care system. Factors influencing this ability include geographic, architectural, transportational, and financial considerations, among others. Access To Care, Health,Access to Care,Access to Contraception,Access to Health Care,Access to Health Services,Access to Medications,Access to Medicines,Access to Therapy,Access to Treatment,Accessibility of Health Services,Availability of Health Services,Contraception Access,Contraceptive Access,Medication Access,Accessibility, Health Services,Contraceptive Availability,Health Services Geographic Accessibility,Program Accessibility,Access to Cares,Access to Contraceptions,Access to Medication,Access to Medicine,Access to Therapies,Access to Treatments,Access, Contraception,Access, Contraceptive,Access, Medication,Accessibilities, Health Services,Accessibility, Program,Availability, Contraceptive,Care, Access to,Cares, Access to,Contraception, Access to,Contraceptive Accesses,Health Services Availability,Medication Accesses,Medication, Access to,Medicine, Access to,Medicines, Access to,Therapy, Access to,Treatment, Access to
D006306 Health Surveys A systematic collection of factual data pertaining to health and disease in a human population within a given geographic area. Abortion Surveys,Abortion Survey,Health Survey,Survey, Abortion,Survey, Health,Surveys, Abortion,Surveys, Health

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