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. 2016 Jan 19:2:2333721415622004.
doi: 10.1177/2333721415622004. eCollection 2016 Jan-Dec.

The Impact of Obesity on Health Care Utilization and Expenditures in a Medicare Supplement Population

Shirley Musich  1 , Stephanie MacLeod  1 , Gandhi R Bhattarai  1 , Shaohung S Wang  1 , Kevin Hawkins  1 , Frank G Bottone Jr  2 , Charlotte S Yeh  3
Affiliations

The Impact of Obesity on Health Care Utilization and Expenditures in a Medicare Supplement Population

Shirley Musich et al. Gerontol Geriatr Med. .

Abstract

Objective: Obesity is a contributor to increased chronic conditions resulting in higher utilization of medical services among broad populations of older adults. The objective of this study was to evaluate the magnitude of the impact of weight on health care use patterns among Medicare Supplement insureds. Method: We estimated the impact of weight as a function of body mass index (BMI) on health care utilization and expenditures using propensity weighted multivariate regression models. The outcomes were controlled initially for demographics and socioeconomics and then additionally for chronic conditions and health status. Results: Among the 9,484 survey respondents, 22.9% were obese. Those categorized as obese were significantly more likely to incur inpatient admissions and orthopedic procedures. Annualized health care expenditures were US$1,496 higher for obese compared with normal weight. The excess utilization and expenditures associated with obesity were explained by chronic conditions and poor health status. Conclusion: Obesity-related expenditures associated with medical management are largely preventable and may benefit from interventions that target lifestyle behaviors and weight management among older adults.

Keywords: Medicare Supplement; health care expenditures; health care utilization; obesity; older adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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