Health Care Spending: Past Trends and Projections (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised June 17, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RL31094 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Paulette C. Morgan, Domestic Social Policy Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
This report focuses on trends in personal health care spending, which includes spending on
health
care goods and services provided to individuals and excludes expenditures for administrative costs,
research, and public health activities. Personal health care expenditures have grown considerably
over the past 40 years. Between 1960 and 2003 (the most recent year available), personal health care
spending increased from $23.4 billion to $1.4 trillion. It is estimated that personal health spending
will exceed $3.1 trillion in 2014.
Data on health expenditures suggest four important trends. First, during the 1990s, health
spending has grown at lower rates than in the past. However, from 2000 to 2003 health spending
grew at higher rates than the previous decade. Second, health care spending as a percent of gross
domestic product (GDP) was relatively constant between 1992 and 2000. Health spending as a
percent of GDP increased in 2001, 2002 and 2003, indicating that health expenditures are growing
faster than the overall economy. Third, four types of health services consistently compose the bulk
of health care expenditures: hospital care, physician and clinical services, nursing home and home
health care, and prescription drugs. Spending on prescription drugs has grown since 1980 and is
projected to continue growing during the next decade. Fourth, over the past 40 years, the primary
financing of health care has shifted from out-of-pocket payments to payments by private insurance
and the federal government.
