Agency for Healthcare 

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Research and Quality 

STATISTICAL BRIEF #63 

January 2005 

Family Health Care Expenses, by Size 

of Family, 2002 

Steven R. Machlin, MS and Marc W. Zodet, MS 

Introduction 

The Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey 

(MEPS-HC) is designed to produce nationally representative 

estimates of the health care use, expenditures, sources of payment, 

and insurance coverage among the United States civilian noninstitutionalized population. Data from the survey are used by 

statisticians and researchers to generalize to this population as well 

as to conduct research in which the family is the unit of analysis. 

Moreover, MEPS-HC is the only source of information available for 

estimating the total health care expenses that American families 

incur each year. 

Many factors can influence the level of health care expenses for a 

family, including the size of the family as well as the demographic, 

socioeconomic, and health status characteristics of family members. 

Further, the extent to which persons in the family have health insurance coverage can impact both access to care and the average level 

of family expenditures. 

This Statistical Brief provides descriptive statistics on total and outof-pocket health care expenses in 2002 for families, by size of family. 

Family units in MEPS-HC include both persons living together in the 

same household and individuals living on their own. All differences 

discussed in this brief are statistically significant at the 0.05 level. 

Findings 

In 2002, there were approximately 121 million family households in 

the United States civilian noninstitutionalized population. About onethird (33.8 percent) of family units in MEPS were individuals, 30.8 

percent contained two persons, and 35.4 percent contained three or 

more persons. (figure 1) 

The vast majority of families (about 95 percent) had some health 

care expenses in 2002. However, individual family units were less 

like to have health care expenses (88.5 percent) than multipleperson families (97.4 to 98.9 percent). (figure 2) 

Highlights 

�	 Overall, about 95 

percent of families in 

2002 had some health 

care expenses, and the 

total expenses for these 

families averaged 

$6,928. 

�	 The average amount of 

expenses paid out-ofpocket per family with 

expenses was $1,321. 

�	 Both total and out-ofpocket median expenses were approximately 

half as large as their 

respective averages. 

�	 Both total and out-ofpocket expenses were 

substantially lower on 

average for individual 

than multiple-person 

families. 

�	 Larger families tended 

to pay a smaller proportion of their health 

care expenses out-ofpocket. 
In 2002, the total expenses for families with expenses averaged $6,928 while the median expense 

($3,180) was less than half the mean expenditure level (figure 3). The average amount paid out-of-pocket 

per family with health care expenses was $1,321 while the median of $702 was just over half as large 

(figure 4). Median health care expenses were substantially lower than mean expenses because a small 

percentage of families include people who incur a disproportionately large share of total medical 

expenses. 

Both total and out-of-pocket expenses were substantially lower for individual than multiple-person 

families. The mean total expense was $5,159 for individuals compared to $7,240 or higher for larger 

families (figure 3) and the average out-of-pocket expense was $984 for individuals compared to $1,362 or 

higher for larger families (figure 4). Similar patterns across family size are observed for the median 

estimates. 

While differences in median total expenses between two-person and larger families were not statistically 

significant, mean total expenses for two-person families were approximately $1,000 higher than for larger 

families (figure 3). Two-person families are substantially more likely to have an elderly member than 

larger families, which may contribute to their higher average expenses. Both mean and median out-of-pocket 

expenses were also higher for two-person than larger family units (figure 4). These differences in average 

expenses between two-person and larger families are based on aggregate expenses for the family and 

would increase if expressed as averages per person within families. 

Overall, families paid an average of about one-third of their health care expenses out-of-pocket, while the 

median proportion that was paid out-of-pocket was about one-fourth (figure 5). In general, larger families 

paid a smaller proportion of their expenses out-of-pocket. The mean proportion paid out-of-pocket ranged 

from 27.9 percent for families with four or more members to 39.8 percent for individuals, while median 

proportions showed a similar pattern but ranged from 20.6 percent to 30.7 percent. 

Data Source 

The estimates in this Statistical Brief are based upon data from the MEPS 2002 Full-Year Consolidated 

Data File: HC-070. 

Definitions 

Expenditures 

Total expenses include payments from all sources to hospitals, physicians, other health care providers 

(including dental care), and pharmacies for services reported by respondents to the MEPS-HC. Sources 

include direct payments from individuals, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and miscellaneous other 

sources. Out-of-pocket expenses include payments by individuals and families for services received by all 

family members during the year. Premiums for health insurance policies are not included. 

Family 

A family in MEPS-HC generally consists of two or more persons living together in the same household 

who are related by blood, marriage, or adoption, as well as foster children. Other types of family units 

include unmarried persons living together who consider and report themselves a family unit and single 

persons living with neither a relative nor a person identified as a “significant other.” Relatives identified as 

usual residents of the household who were not present at the time of the interview, such as college 

students living away from their parents’ home during the school year, are considered as members of the 

family that identified them. All families with one or more members living in the civilian noninstitutionalized 

population for any part of the year are included in the estimates. 

About MEPS-HC 

MEPS-HC is a nationally representative longitudinal survey that collects detailed information on health 

care utilization and expenditures, health insurance, and health status, as well as a wide variety of social, 

demographic, and economic characteristics for the civilian noninstitutionalized population. It is 

cosponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Center for Health 

Statistics. 
For details on how to create family-level estimates, see the documentation for any MEPS full-year personlevel public use file (e.g., HC-070 for 2002 estimates presented in this Statistical Brief). 

For more information about MEPS, call the MEPS information coordinator at AHRQ (301-427-1406) or 

visit the MEPS Web site at http://www.meps.ahrq.gov/. 

References 

For a detailed description of the MEPS-HC survey design, sample design, and methods used to minimize 

sources on nonsampling error, see the following publications: 

Cohen, J. Design and Methods of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. MEPS 

Methodology Report No. 1. AHCPR Pub. No. 97-0026. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Health Care Policy and 

Research, 1997. 

Cohen, S. Sample Design of the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. MEPS 

Methodology Report No. 2. AHCPR Pub. No. 97-0027. Rockville, Md.: Agency for Health Care Policy and 

Research, 1997. 

Suggested Citation 

Machlin, S. R. and Zodet, M. W. Family Health Care Expenses, by Size of Family, 2002. Statistical Brief 

#63. January 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.meps.ahrq. 

gov/papers/st63/stat63.pdf 
Expenditure Panel Survey, 2002 

Number of Families = 121.0 million 

33.8% 

30.8% 

14.0% 

21.4% 

1 

2 

3 

4+ 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Household Component of the Medical 

Figure 1. Distribution of MEPS families, by size of family, 2002 

Expenditure Panel Survey, 2002 

Figure 2. Percentage of families with health care expenses, Percent 

94.9 

88.5 

97.4 98.4 98.9 

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

All family sizes 1 2 3 4+ 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Household Component of the Medical 

by size of family, 2002 
Expenditure Panel Survey, 2002 

6928 

3180 

5159 

1667 

8299 

4036 3708 

4077 

7315 7240 

0 

1000 

2000 

3000 

4000 

5000 

6000 

7000 

8000 

9000 

Mean Median 

All family sizes 1 2 3 4+ 

Dollars 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Household Component of the Medical 

Figure 3. Total health care expenses per family with expenses, 

by size of family, 2002 

Expenditure Panel Survey, 2002 

984 

450 

1603 

937 

774 748 702 

1321 1362 1370 

0 

200 

400 

600 

800 

1000 

1200 

1400 

1600 

1800 

Mean Median 

All family sizes 1 2 3 4+ 

Dollars 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Household Component of the Medical 

Figure 4. Out-of-pocket health care expenses per family with 

expenses, by size of family, 2002 
Expenditure Panel Survey, 2002 

26.2 

20.6 

25.6 

33.8 

30.7 

39.8 

33.4 

30.9 

22.8 

27.9 

0 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

Mean 

All family sizes 1 2 3 4+ 

Percent 

Source: Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends, AHRQ, Household Component of the Medical 

Figure 5. Percentage of total family health care expenses paid 

out-of-pocket, by size of family, 2002 

Median