In 2015, the United States spent more than $3 trillion or 17 percent of its Gross Domestic Product on health care. That translates to more than $10,000 for every resident.
Although we spend far more than any other developed nation on health care, we rank 27th in life expectancy and 26th in maternal mortality. The U.S. is alone among the developed nations in not having some form of universal health insurance.
Dr. Clif CleavelandSome politicians and pundits argue that unfettered competition among competing providers will lead to lower costs. Others argue that a single-payer system – Medicare for all – is the only means to control expenditures. Still others argue that a public that is fully informed about the costs of care can make effective, economical choices.
Whatever course is chosen must be informed by accurate data on the various components of health-care costs. Toward that end, a study in the Dec. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association provides detailed insights into the distribution of our health-care dollars between personal and public health expenditures.
Mining a mountain of data from 1996 to 2013, the authors divide spending by condition, site of care, age and gender. During this interval, more than $30 trillion were spent on health care. Costs increased by an average of 3.5 percent annually. The costs attributed to 155 different conditions were analyzed.