Expenditures on medical services by survivorship status in private health care in Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to construct indicators of expenditures on medical consultations, examinations and admissions in private health care, based on the administrative records of a private self-management health plan in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2009. The expenditure indicators were separated by age group, gender and survival status (beneficiaries who survived vs. those who died in 2009). The average annual expenditures for the beneficiaries who died were approximately 40 times higher than those of individuals who remained alive. Expenditures by gender showed differences according to survival status, with female survivors costing more than female non-survivors. The highest expenses were for hospital treatment and this category also showed the highest difference in costs observed between survivors and non-survivors, by age group. For beneficiaries who died, there was a trend toward increasing costs for men for hospital treatment whereas there was a fall in such costs for women, beginning with the 60-69 age group.