Health Care Costs Fast Facts
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Family premiums skyrocket
From 1999 - 2009, family premiums for employer-sponsored health coverage increased by 131 percent, placing increasing cost burdens on employers and workers. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation |
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The cost of harmful care
One in seven Medicare beneficiaries is harmed annually in the course of care, at a cost to the government estimated at $4.4 billion. Source: HealthCare.Gov |
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The cost of medical errors
Medical errors in the United States cost about $17.1 billion in 2008. Source: Health Affairs |
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Can't pay the price of care
More than half (54%) of U.S. patients did not get recommended care, fill prescriptions, or see a doctor when sick because of costs, versus 7 percent to 36 percent in the other countries. Source: The Commonwealth Fund |
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Effects of health inequities
Between 2003 and 2006, the total direct and indirect costs of health inequities affecting racial and ethnic minority populations more broadly - including lost wages and productivity - exceeded $1.2 trillion. Source: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies |
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Cost of preventable conditions
Among African Americans and Hispanics, the cost burden of three preventable conditions-high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke-was about $23.9 billion in 2009. Source: Urban Institute |
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The expensive few
A small proportion of the U.S. population accounts for half of all U.S. health care spending. The five percent of the population with higher health care expenses (>$16,336 annually) was responsible for nearly half (47.5 percent) of total health care spending. The 50 percent of the population with the lowest expenses (<$825) accounted for only 3.1 percent of total spending. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation |
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Why it's more expensive in the U.S.
Prices, efficiency and insurance administration are the most important reasons U.S. spending is higher than spending in other countries. One study estimated that relative to other major industrialized nations, the U.S. pays 70 percent higher prices for drugs, has substantial excess capacity and low productivity in outpatient facilities, and spends six times more on insurance administration. Source: McKinsey Global Institute |
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Biggest drivers of cost
Hospital care and physician and clinical services are by far the largest components of U.S. health care spending. Hospital care accounted for 31 percent and physician and clinical services accounted for 21 percent of overall health care spending in 2006. Prescription drugs accounted for only 10 percent of overall spending, although that is 40 percent higher than its share in 1970. Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |
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Costs up for employers and employees
Workers pay 47 percent more now than they did in 2005 for the family health coverage they get through their jobs, while their wages have increased only 18 percent. Employers, in contrast, pay 20 percent more toward their employees' health insurance than they did five years ago. Source: Kaiser Family Foundation |
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Medical malpractice and costs
Medical malpractice is not a major driver of spending trends. Premiums for liability coverage and defensive medicine do contribute to health spending at any moment in time, but they are not a large factor nor are they a significant factor in the overall growth of health care spending. Source: Issues in Science and Technology |
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Obesity and health care costs
Rising rates of obesity and lack of gains in productivity in health care also contribute to growth in health care costs. Obesity is a particularly significant driver of health spending, accounting for an estimated 12% of the growth in recent years. Source: Health Affairs |
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Health care costs and GDP
Between 1985 and 2006, U.S. health care spending increased by an average of 7.7 percent per year, while GDP increased 5.6 percent per year. Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |
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Cost of medical technology
Estimates of the contribution of medical technology to health care spending growth range from 38 percent to more than 65 percent. Source: Journal of Economic Perspectives |
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Technology drives up costs
Medical technology is the driving force behind the growth in U.S. health care spending. Technology drives spending both through the substitution of higher cost services for lower cost services and the expansion of available treatments. Source: Health Affairs |
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More spending, worse quality
The United States spends 50 percent more on health care per capita than any other country in the world. But the U.S. has shorter life expectancies and worse infant mortality rates than most other wealthy countries. Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development |
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U.S. health care costs
In 2009, the U.S. spent $2.5 trillion, or 17.6 percent of GDP, on health care. This translates to $8,086 per person annually. Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |