Files
Abstract
Excerpts from the report Summary: Data collected in 1955 in connection with the special cooperative Survey of Farmers’ Expenditures indicate the items of health care farm families buy most frequently and what they spend for such care. The average annual expenditures of farm families on health care was $240 in 1955. On the average, more was spent per family for physicians excluding surgeons, ($49) than for any other item. By comparison, expenditures averaged $28 per family for dentists, $11 for surgeons, $31 for hospitals, $12 for health insurance, and $29 for prescribed drugs. Survey data were tabulated to show the relationship of expenditures of farm families for health care to selected socio-economic factors. Analyses of these tables show that: (1) Families on larger commercial farms spend more for health care; (2) families where the farm operator is 35-54 years of age have the highest expense for health care; (3) outlays for health increase as family living expenses increase; (4) the health bill of the largest number of families ranged from $100-$199; (5) families with five members have the highest health care bills.