Financial Burden of Health Care Spending Among Medicare Beneficiaries, 1997-2003 Median out-of-pocket health spending for insurance premiums and health care services increased as a share of Medicare beneficiaries' income from 11.9 percent in 1997 to 15.5 percent in 2003.
Notes: Difference between 1997 and 2003 is statistically significant at .05 level.
Source: Kaiser/UCLA analysis of Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey Cost and Use files, 1997-2003.
