In 2003, 85% of the total civilian, non-institutionalized U.S. population had health care expenses, and 95% of all U.S. families had health care expenses. A small proportion of people (the top 1% of health care spenders) was responsible for much of the health care spending in this country in 2003, though the proportion was larger for individuals (22.3%) than for families (13.9%). The bottom 50% of the population had few or no health care expenses – only 3.4% of individuals and 7.8% of families were responsible for total health care spending in 2003.

Notes: Health spending is defined as total payments, or the sum of spending by all payer sources. Families are defined as a group of persons, living together, who are related to one another by blood, marriage, adoption, foster care, or self-identified as a single unit.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation calculations using data from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), 2003 Full Year Population, available at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/Puf/PufDetail.asp?ID=135.