Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Spring;70(2):148-55.
doi: 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2009.00156.x.

Dental care expenditures and retirement

Richard J Manski  1 , John Moeller, Haiyan Chen, Patricia A St Clair, Jody Schimmel, Larry Magder, John V Pepper
Affiliations

Dental care expenditures and retirement

Richard J Manski et al. J Public Health Dent. 2010 Spring.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the relationship of dental care coverage, retirement, and out-of-pocket (OOP) dental expenditures in an aging population, using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).

Methods: We estimate OOP dental expenditures among individuals who have dental utilization as a function of dental care coverage status, retirement, and individual and household characteristics. We also estimate a multivariate model controlling for potentially confounding variables.

Results: Overall, mean OOP dental expenditures among those with any spending were substantially larger for those without coverage than for those with coverage. However, controlling for coverage shows that there is little difference in spending by retirement status.

Conclusions: Although having dental coverage is a key determinant of the level of OOP expenditures on dental care; spending is higher among those without coverage than those who have dental insurance. We also found that while retirement has no independent effect on OOP dental expenditures once controlling for coverage, dental coverage rates are much lower among retirees.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Weighted Estimates
Mean out-of-pocket dental expenditures in the two year period ending in 2006 for those with a dental visit, by coverage and retirement status
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Publication Number 10050. Baltimore, MD: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; 2008. Medicare & You, 2009.
    1. Growing Older in America: The Health and Retirement Study. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Aging; 2007. Available at http://hrsonline.isr.umich.edu.
    1. The Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research & Educational Trust. Publication Number 7790. Menlo Park, CA: Kaiser Family Foundation; Sep 24, 2008. Employer Health Benefits: 2008 Annual Survey.
    1. Manski RJ, Moeller JF, Chen H, St Clair PA, Schimmel J, Magder L, Pepper JV. Dental Care Coverage and Retirement. Journal of Public Health Dentistry. Submitted. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Manski RJ, Macek MD, Moeller JF. Private Dental Coverage: Who Has it and How Does it Influence Dental Visits and Expenditures? Journal of the American Dental Association. 2002 November;133(11):1551–1559. - PubMed

Publication types