Does Widowhood Explain Gender Differences in Out-of-Pocket Medical Spending Among the Elderly?

Gopi Goda, John B. Shoven and Sita Slavov

No 17440, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Despite the presence of Medicare, out-of-pocket medical spending is a large expenditure risk facing the elderly. While women live longer than men, elderly women incur higher out-of-pocket medical spending than men at each age. In this paper, we examine whether differences in marital status and living arrangements can explain this difference. We find that out-of-pocket medical spending is approximately 29 percent higher when an individual becomes widowed, a large portion of which is spending on nursing homes. Our results suggest a substantial role of living arrangements in out-of-pocket medical spending; however, our estimates combined with differences in rates of widowhood across gender suggest that marital status can explain only one third of the gender difference in total out-of-pocket medical spending, leaving a large portion unexplained. On the other hand, gender differences in widowhood more than explain the observed gender difference in out-of-pocket spending on nursing homes.

JEL-codes: I11 J12 J14 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-dem, nep-hea, nep-hme and nep-ias
Note: AG EH PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published as Goda, Gopi Shah & Shoven, John B. & Slavov, Sita Nataraj, 2013. "Does widowhood explain gender differences in out-of-pocket medical spending among the elderly?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 647-658.

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