Annual growth in national health spending has exceeded the growth of the economy as a whole by an average 2.4 percentage points from 1970 to 2007, according to an updated primer on healthcare costs from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The updated primer examines recent trends in healthcare costs in the United States and the factors that contribute to their rapid rise. It notes that since 1970, the share of the economy devoted to health care grew from 7.2 percent to 16.2 percent and is projected to increase to one-fifth by 2018. Reducing that rate of growth poses significant challenges for efforts to reform the nation’s healthcare system.
The primer describes the types and sources of healthcare spending, the demographic factors associated with higher or lower levels of spending, and the impact of higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs on families and employers. It also discusses factors that influence healthcare spending growth--including the use of new medical technology, population changes, and changes in disease prevalence--and highlights some of the challenges policymakers face in trying to slow the rise in healthcare costs.
Read the report or a summary fact sheet.
