Report on U.S. Health Care Spending Published

The AMA has released a new report providing a detailed look at U.S. health care spending through 2019. According to the AMA report, “National Health Expenditures, 2019: Steady Spending Growth Despite Increases in Personal Health Care Expenditures in Advance of the Pandemic,” health spending increased to nearly 18% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Specifically, the report found that:

• Health spending was 17.7% of GDP in 2019 and increased by 4.6% to $3.8 trillion ($11,582 per capita);
• Spending for hospital care (6.2%) and prescription drugs (5.7%) grew faster than physician services (4.2%);
• Spending growth in Medicare (6.7%) and out-of-pocket payments (4.6%) reached their highest rates in the last decade, while private health insurance (3.7%) and Medicaid (2.9%) were on a downswing;
• The federal government financed the largest share of health spending (29.0%) in 2019 as it has since 2015; households were the second-largest financiers (28.4%); and
• Preliminary estimates suggest an unprecedented decline in 2020 national health spending driven by decreases in spending for most personal health expenditure categories — including a 7.0% decline in hospital care spending and 4.2% decline in physician and clinical services spending.

Click here to read the report.