Per capita national health expenditures in the United States have increased significantly since 1960. In 2023, national health expenditures amounted to **** thousand U.S. dollars per capita. For comparison, in 1960, per capital expenditures for health stood at *** U.S. dollars. According to recent data, the U.S. has some of the highest health care costs in the world. Health care expenditures With increased per capita health expenditures, U.S. health care expenditures as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP) have also increased over the decades. Among developed countries, the U.S. has the highest health expenditure as a proportion of the GDP. The high level of health costs in the U.S. may be attributable to high costs for prescribed drugs and health services as well as high administrative costs. Cost areas A large proportion of all health care spending in the U.S. is attributable to hospital care and physician and clinical services. In recent years, many sectors have seen an increase in health care spending. However, data suggests that prescription drugs have seen some of the most dramatic increases in spending in recent years. The annual prescription drug expenditures in the U.S. reached an all-time high by the end of 2022.

U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was $12,434, a 3.63% increase from 2021.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$11,999</strong>, a <strong>2.8% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$11,673</strong>, a <strong>10.68% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$10,546</strong>, a <strong>3.57% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
</ul>Current expenditures on health per capita in current US dollars. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year.

In 2023, U.S. national health expenditure as a share of its gross domestic product (GDP) reached 17.6 percent, this was an increase on the previous year. The United States has the highest health spending based on GDP share among developed countries. Both public and private health spending in the U.S. is much higher than other developed countries. Why the U.S. pays so much moreWhile private health spending in Canada stays at around three percent and in Germany under two percent of the gross domestic product, it is nearly nine percent in the United States. Another reason for high costs can be found in physicians’ salaries, which are much higher in the U.S. than in other wealthy countries. A general practitioner in the U.S. earns nearly twice as much as the average physician in other high-income countries. Additionally, medicine spending per capita is also significantly higher in the United States. Finally, inflated health care administration costs are another of the predominant factors which make health care spending in the U.S. out of proportion. It is important to state that Americans do not pay more because they have a higher health care utilization, but mainly because of higher prices. Expected developmentsBy 2031, it is expected that health care spending in the U.S. will reach nearly one fifth of the nation’s gross domestic product. Or in dollar-terms, health care expenditures will accumulate to about seven trillion U.S. dollars in total.

The United States has the highest expenditure on health care per capita globally. However, the U.S. has an unique way of paying for their health care where a majority of the expenditure falls upon private insurances. In FY 2024, around one ***** of all health expenditure is paid by private insurance. Public insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid accounted for ** and ** percent, respectively, of health expenditure during that same year. U.S. health care system Globally health spending has been increasing among most countries. However, the U.S. has the highest public and private per capita health expenditure among all countries globally, followed by Switzerland. As of 2020, annual health care costs per capita in the United States totaled to over ** thousand U.S. dollars, a significant amount considering the average U.S. personal income is around ** thousand dollars. Out of pocket costs in the U.S. Aside from overall high health care costs for U.S. residents, the total out-of-pocket costs for health care have been on the rise. In recent years, the average per capita out-of-pocket health care payments have exceeded *** thousand dollars. Physician services, dental services and prescription drugs account for the largest proportion of out-of-pocket expenditures for U.S. residents.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Healthcare by Age: Age 65 or over (CXUHEALTHLB0407M) from 1988 to 2023 about 65-years +, healthcare, age, health, expenditures, and USA.

Health expenditure in the U.S. has been a hotly debated topic among political parties, especially on the verge of presidential elections. Health expenditures in the U.S. have been increasing over time and are projected to keep increasing. As of 2023, the U.S. spent a total of *** trillion U.S. dollars on healthcare. U.S. health expenditure in comparison The U.S has some of the highest expenditures for health care in the world. With a total health spending of roughly ** percent of the country’s GDP, the U.S. has far surpassed the country with the second highest health expenditure as a share of GDP, Germany. The United States, despite having a mixed method of healthcare financing and insurances, also has one of the highest shares of domestic governmental health expenditures. U.S. health care payers There are several different governmental and non-governmental agencies that are responsible for health care funding and payments in the United States. Currently, private insurance and Medicare are the two largest payers of U.S. health care. Direct health care costs are not the only things that these payers are responsible for. They may also be partly responsible for prescription drug costs. Again, private insurance and Medicare are the two largest payers of prescription drug costs in the U.S. Among all the payers of health care costs in the U.S., Medicare has experienced the highest level of health spending increases in recent years.

Limit state-purchased health care cost growth to 2% less than the projected national health expenditures average every year through 2019.

Graph and download economic data for Health Expenditures per Capita (HLTHSCPCHCSA) from 2000 to 2021 about healthcare, health, expenditures, per capita, and USA.

This data package contains the information of Medicare and Medicaid healthcare spending and healthcare cost and percentages by state.

In the U.S. many employers pay a portion of health care costs for employees. As of 2019, the total annual medical costs for employees was just over 13 thousand U.S. dollars. That cost is expected to increase to 13.7 thousand U.S. dollars by 2020. There have been recent changes to employer-offered health care through the Affordable Care Act that requires employers with over 50 employees to offer affordable health care options to their employees.

U.S. health benefits at work

In the United States, both employers and employees may pay health care costs, depending on the work. In a recent survey U.S. residents were asked what benefits they expected from their employers, a vast majority of them said that they expect health care benefits. Despite the demand from employer-sponsored healthcare coverage, not all companies feel that they would be able to offer health coverage as an employment benefit. Another recent survey has illustrated that employer confidence in offering health insurance can change dramatically from year-to-year.

U.S. sick leave benefits

Another aspect of workplace health and wellness, is annual sick leave. In general, a majority of U.S. workers have access to a fixed number of paid sick days per year. However, a very small proportion of employees had access to paid sick leave as needed. As of 2017, around half of all employees utilized up to 5 days of sick leave per year. Despite that, there was still a large proportion, especially among those aged 18-30 years that went to work even though they were ill.

Historical chart and dataset showing Norway healthcare spending per capita by year from 2000 to 2022.

The HCUP Summary Trend Tables include monthly information on hospital utilization derived from the HCUP State Inpatient Databases (SID) and HCUP State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD). Information on emergency department (ED) utilization is dependent on availability of HCUP data; not all HCUP Partners participate in the SEDD.

The HCUP Summary Trend Tables include downloadable Microsoft® Excel tables with information on the following topics: