Economic Burden Associated with Parkinson's Disease on Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries

The authors evaluated medical utilization and economic burden of self-reported Parkinson's disease (PD) on patients and society. Using the 1992-2000 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, they compared health care utilization and expenditures (in 2002 U.S. dollars) of Medicare subscribers with and without PD, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics and comorbidities. PD patients used significantly more health care services of all categories and paid significantly more out of pocket for their medical services than other elderly (mean [plus or minus] SE, $5,532 [plus or minus] $329 vs. $2,187 [plus or minus] $38; P < 0.001). After adjusting for other factors, PD patients had higher annual health care expenses than beneficiaries without PD ($18,528 vs. $10,818; P < 0.001). PD patients were more likely to use medical care (OR = 3.77; 95% CI = 1.44-9.88), in particular for long-term care (OR = 3.80; 95% CI = 3.02-4.79) and home health care (OR = 2.08; 95% CI = 1.76-2.46). PD is associated with a significant economic burden to patients and society. Although more research is needed to understand the relationship between PD and medical expenditures and utilization, these findings have important implications for health care providers and payers that serve PD populations.