Low-wage employees use healthcare services less than their higher paid counterparts, according to a new study in Health Affairs.
For the study, researchers assessed patterns of healthcare utilization and spending by wage category for 42,936 employees of self-insured employers enrolled in a private health insurances exchange for the full 12 months of 2014.
Here are five study findings.
1. Employees in the highest wage group (38 percent) used preventative care two times more than employees in the lowest wage group (19 percent).
2. Highest wage group employees had a hospital admission rate of 31 people per 1,000 compared to 17 per 1,0000 for the lowest wage group.
3. Employees in the lowest wage group had four times the rate of avoidable admissions with 4.3 people per 1,000 compared to 0.9 per 1,000 for the highest wage group.
4. Lowest wage group employees had three times the rate of emergency department visits (470 people per 1,000) compared to top wage earners (120 per 1,000).
5. Annual total healthcare spending per patient was highest in the lowest wage ($4,835) and highest wage ($5,074) groups compared to the middle two wage groups who spent $4,835 and $5,074 per patient, respectively.
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