Dorothy Rice, a pioneering government economist and statistician whose research about the need of the aged for health insurance helped make the case for the passage of Medicare in 1965, died on Feb. 25 in Oakland, Calif. She was 94.

Her son Tom said the cause was complications of a broken hip resulting from a fall.

Mrs. Rice was an analyst at the Social Security Administration when its study on aging highlighted how about half the population 65 and over had no health insurance — and that those who needed it most were the least likely to be able to afford it.

The 8.5 million uninsured older people, she wrote in 1964 in Social Security Bulletin, “include disproportionate numbers of the very old — particularly women — those in poor health, and those no longer engaged in full-time employment.”

The high cost of hospital and nursing home care, she added, “presents special problems for the aged because of their large and often unexpected bills.”