HCFO Grantee findings highlighted in New York Times Article on Health Care Spending Disparities

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Findings from a study led by Jack Hadley, Ph.D., professor at George Mason University, were highlighted in the June 8, 2009 New York Times article, “Health Care Spending Disparities Stir a Fight.” The article discusses variations in Medicare spending and debates whether policies should be implemented to reduce this variation. Hadley is conducting a HCFO-sponsored study that is assessing the marginal contribution of increased medical spending on health status, building on his work investigating the relative contributions of geographic factors and personal characteristics to variation in Medicare spending. Preliminary findings suggest that geographic variations in Medicare spending are largely a result of “individual characteristics, especially patients' underlying health status and a range of socio-economic factors, including income.”