No abstract

The same forces that have acted to increase overall Medicare expenditures have affected care for both decedents and survivors. There is no evidence that persons in the last year of life account for a larger share of Medicare expenditures than in earlier years.

Examples of cost estimates for colorectal and breast cancer derived from SEER-Medicare are presented, including estimates of incidence-based cost (average cost per patient) by the initial, terminal, and continuing care phases of cancer treatment. Estimates of cancer-related treatment costs, costs by type of treatment, and long-term costs are presented, as are prevalence-based costs (aggregate Medicare and national expenditures) by cancer type.

Despite changes in the delivery of medical care over the last generation, the share of Medicare expenditures going to beneficiaries in their last year has not changed substantially.

No abstract

No abstract

Administrative data are an essential source of information for studies of the financial burden of disease. Cost estimates can vary substantially by specific measures (payments, charges, cost to charge ratios) and across data sources.

Despite finding a protective effect of early-life animal exposures, we found a greater prevalence of allergic disease on farms.