National Spending on Health Care

Health care spending in the United States has grown rapidly since the 1960s, at an average rate of 10 percent a year.

National Health Expenditures (NHE), Aggregate and Share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 1960-2017

Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and U.S. Department of Commerce. (2006-2017 data are projected.)

While health care spending has been increasing, the distribution of health care spending among different services has been changing.

Distribution of National Health Expenditures, by Type of Expenditure, 1960-2017

Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2008-2017 data are projected.)

The share of private health care spending that health insurance covers has more than doubled since the 1960s.

Out-of-Pocket Spending as a Percent of Total Private Spending, 1960-2017

Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2008-2017 data are projected.)

The cost of providing health care services has been increasing faster than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 1998, but the gap between the two declined recently as the economy recovered from recession and health care costs grew more slowly.

Annual Growth Rates for Spending on Health Care Services and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 1998-2006

Source: Ginsburg, P.B., B.C. Strunk, M.I. Banker, and J.P. Cookson. "Tracking Health Care Costs: Continued Stability But At High Rates In 2005." Health Affairs Web Exclusive, Oct. 3, 2006.

Recent spending on health care services has slowed for all categories of health care, but cost increases for hospital outpatient services and prescription drugs continue to outpace those for inpatient and physician services.

Annual Per Capita Percentage Change in Health Care Services, by Category of Service, 2001-2006

Source: Ginsburg, P.B., B.C. Strunk, M.I. Banker, and J.P. Cookson. "Tracking Health Care Costs: Continued Stability But At High Rates In 2005." Health Affairs Web Exclusive, Oct. 3, 2006.