Hospital care expenditure in the United States has grown dramatically over the past six decades, reaching a staggering 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. This figure represents a significant portion of the nation's total health care spending, highlighting the crucial role hospitals play in the American healthcare system. Despite the increasing expenditure, the number of hospitals and hospital beds in the country has been declining. Declining hospital numbers While hospital care expenditure has surged, the number of hospitals in the United States has decreased steadily since 1975. In 2022, there were 6,120 hospitals in the country, down from 7,156 in 1975. This reduction in facilities has been accompanied by a parallel decrease in hospital beds, with only 916,752 beds available in 2022 compared to approximately 1.5 million in 1975. The decline in hospital infrastructure occurs despite a growing and aging population. Hospital care in national health expenditure Hospital care consistently accounts for the largest share of national health care expenditure in the United States. In 2023, 31.2 percent of the total 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars spent on health care was allocated to hospital care. This proportion far exceeds other categories of health care spending, such as physician and clinical services, which accounted for around 20 percent of total expenditure.

This dataset identifies health care spending at medical services such as hospitals, physicians, clinics, and nursing homes etc. as well as for medical products such as medicine, prescription glasses and hearing aids. This dataset pertains to personal health care spending in general. Other datasets in this series include Medicaid personal health care spending and Medicare personal health care spending.

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 third of all health expenditure is paid by private insurance. Public insurance programs Medicare and Medicaid accounted for 22 and 17 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 12 thousand U.S. dollars, a significant amount considering the average U.S. personal income is around 54 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 one thousand dollars. Physician services, dental services and prescription drugs account for the largest proportion of out-of-pocket expenditures for U.S. residents.

Per capita national health expenditures in the United States have increased significantly since 1960. In 2022, national health expenditures amounted to 13.4 thousand U.S. dollars per capita. For comparison, in 1960, per capital expenditures for health stood at 146 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.

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

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 2022, the U.S. spent a total of 4.4 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 17 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.

This dataset is a list of healthcare expenditure categorized by state of residence in 2009 . All health spending is displayed in millions of dollars. Total health spending includes all privately and publicly funded hospital care, physician services, nursing home care, and prescription drugs etc. by state of residence. This spending includes hospital spending and is the total net revenue that is calculated as gross charges less contractual adjustments, bad debts, and charity care.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Healthcare by Age: from Age 25 to 34 (CXUHEALTHLB0403M) from 1984 to 2023 about healthcare, age, 25 years +, health, expenditures, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Total Private Construction Spending: Health Care in the United States (MPCV04XXS) from Feb 2002 to Apr 2025 about healthcare, health, expenditures, construction, private, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Healthcare by Deciles of Income Before Taxes: Eighth 10 Percent (71st to 80th Percentile) (CXUHEALTHLB1509M) from 2014 to 2023 about healthcare, health, percentile, tax, expenditures, income, and USA.

In 2022, U.S. national health expenditure as a share of its gross domestic product (GDP) reached 17.3 percent, this was a decrease 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.

U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was $12,474, a 3.84% increase from 2021.

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

<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$12,012</strong>, a <strong>2.16% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$11,758</strong>, a <strong>10.32% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>U.S. healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$10,658</strong>, a <strong>3.68% 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.

Sudan healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was $21.58, a 7.56% decline from 2020.

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<li>Sudan healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$23.34</strong>, a <strong>34.26% decline</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>Sudan healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$35.51</strong>, a <strong>0.05% decline</strong> from 2018.</li>
<li>Sudan healthcare spending per capita for 2018 was <strong>$35.53</strong>, a <strong>50.06% decline</strong> from 2017.</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.

North America healthcare spending per capita for 2022 was $11,818, a 3.31% increase from 2021.

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<li>North America healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was <strong>$11,440</strong>, a <strong>2.77% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>North America healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$11,132</strong>, a <strong>10.34% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>North America healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$10,089</strong>, a <strong>3.47% 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.

This statistic describes the spending for hospital care services in the United States from 2013 to 2022, sorted by payer. In 2022, around 486 billion U.S. dollars for hospital care were spent by private health insurances, an increase from the previous year.

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

Panama healthcare spending per capita for 2021 was $1,415, a 4.21% increase from 2020.

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<li>Panama healthcare spending per capita for 2020 was <strong>$1,358</strong>, a <strong>1.34% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>Panama healthcare spending per capita for 2019 was <strong>$1,340</strong>, a <strong>9.13% increase</strong> from 2018.</li>
<li>Panama healthcare spending per capita for 2018 was <strong>$1,228</strong>, a <strong>8.9% increase</strong> from 2017.</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 2022, of the total 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars spent on U.S. health care expenditure, 30.4 percent went to hospital care, while 9.1 percent was spent on prescription drugs. This statistic shows the distribution of national health care expenditure in the U.S. from 2015 to 2022, by category.

Graph and download economic data for Total Construction Spending: Health Care in the United States (TLHLTHCONS) from Jan 2002 to Apr 2025 about health, expenditures, construction, and USA.

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.