The National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) are the official estimates of total health care spending in the United States. Dating back to 1960, the NHEA measures annual U.S. expenditures for health care goods and services, public health activities, program administration, the net cost of private insurance, and research and other investment related to health care. The data are presented by type of service, sources of funding, and by sponsors.

U.S. health care spending growth accelerated slightly in 2006, increasing 6.7 percent compared to 6.5 percent in 2005. Total health expenditures reached $2.1 trillion, which translates to $7,026 per person or 16 percent of the nation's Gross Domestic Product. The health spending share of GDP remained relatively stable in 2006, up by only 0.1 percentage point from 2005.

For additional information, see below.

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Highlights (PDF, 26 KB) NHE Web tables (PDF, 111 KB) National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2006 (ZIP, 38 KB) NHE summary including share of GDP, CY 1960-2006 (ZIP, 4 KB) Definitions, Sources, Methods (PDF, 320 KB) Summary of benchmark changes (PDF, 72 KB) Quick Reference: National Health Expenditure category definitions (PDF, 24 KB) Nation's health dollar - where it came from, where it went (PDF, 67 KB)
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Related Links Outside CMS
Health Affairs article: Catlin et al, 'National Health Spending in 2006.'

Page Last Modified: 07/07/2008 9:04:22 AM
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