Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994                   TAG: 9404210207
SECTION: NATIONAL/INT                    PAGE: A-16   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: |Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

ELDERLY PAY MORE FOR CARE

Americans 65 and older now spend 23 percent of their income on health needs, such things as co-payments and deductibles for Medicare, drugs and insurance premiums.

In 1987, the elderly spent 17 percent of their income on out-of-pocket health costs, according to the study by the American Association of Retired Persons and the Urban Institute.

Out-of-pocket health costs for the elderly were four times higher than those of people under 65, the study said. People under 65 spent $679 on average, or 8 percent of their income.

The elderly use far more medical services than the young and middle-aged. They go to the doctor nearly twice as much, are hospitalized three times as much and purchase four times as many prescription drugs, the study said.

Almost all the elderly are covered by Medicare, but the AARP's John Rother said they ``suffer like everyone else from the effects of the skyrocketing growth in health care spending.''

The figures were drawn from a 1987 federal survey of medical expenditures, updated by the Urban Institute with more recent figures on medical costs from the government and private insurers.