Health Care, Costs

Christine Caffrey

Officials measure health care costs in two major ways: total expenditures and per person (or per capita) spending. They report total expenditures either in dollars or as a percentage of the gross domestic product (GDP), or else as a growth rate percentage compared with the growth rate percentage of the GDP. Reports on per capita spending are often in dollars, in terms of total medical costs or total out-of-pocket costs, or as a percentage of individual income. A final means of measurement is the share of individual spending paid out-of-pocket. Total expenditures and per capita health costs can also be projected. Total expenditures are growing at an alarming rate. In 2003, they were $1.7 trillion, with government projections to grow to $2.16 trillion in 2006 and over $4 trillion by 2015. Total health spending as a percentage of the GDP grew from 7.2 percent in 1965 to 16.2 percent in ...

Users without subscription are not able to see the full content on this title. Please, subscribe or login to access all content on this website.