NHE Fact Sheet

Historical NHE, 2015:

• NHE grew 5.8% to $3.2 trillion in 2015, or $9,990 per person, and accounted for 17.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• Medicare spending grew 4.5% to $646.2 billion in 2015, or 20 percent of total NHE.
• Medicaid spending grew 9.7% to $545.1 billion in 2015, or 17 percent of total NHE.
• Private health insurance spending grew 7.2% to $1,072.1 billion in 2015, or 33 percent of total NHE.
• Out of pocket spending grew 2.6% to $338.1 billion in 2015, or 11 percent of total NHE.
• Hospital expenditures grew 5.6% to $1,036.1 billion in 2015, faster than the 4.6% growth in 2014.
• Physician and clinical services expenditures grew 6.3% to $634.9 billion in 2015, a faster growth than the 4.8% in 2014.
• Prescription drug spending increased 9.0% to $324.6 billion in 2015, slower than the 12.4% growth in 2014.
• The largest shares of total health spending were sponsored by the federal government (28.7 percent) and the households (27.7 percent).   The private business share of health spending accounted for 19.9 percent of total health care spending, state and local governments accounted for 17.1 percent, and other private revenues accounted for 6.7 percent.
• For further detail see NHE Tables in downloads below.

Projected NHE, 2015-2025:

• For 2015-25, health spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.8 percent per year (4.9 percent on a per capita basis).
• Health spending is projected to grow 1.3 percentage points faster than Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year over this period; as a result, the health share of GDP is expected to rise from 17.5 percent in 2014 to 20.1 percent by 2025.
• Given the ACA’s coverage expansions and premium subsidies together with population aging, federal, state and local governments are projected to finance 47 percent of national health spending by 2025 (from 45 percent in 2014).
• Although projected health spending growth is faster than in the recent past due to the combined effects of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) major coverage expansions, stronger expected economic growth, and population aging, it is still slower than the growth experienced over the last two decades prior to this most recent recession related to trends in higher cost-sharing within private plans and various Medicare payment update provisions found in the ACA.
• After 5.3-percent growth in 2014, national health spending is projected to have grown 5.5 percent in 2015.
• The first two years of the projection are anticipated to be influenced by the persisting effects of the coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act.
  • For 2015, continued enrollment growth in Medicaid and the Marketplaces, as well as projected enrollment increases in employer-sponsored plans, is expected to have resulted in a slight acceleration in national health spending growth (5.5 percent) and a further substantial reduction in the number of uninsured (7.2 million).
  • By 2016 the transition of consumers into Medicaid and Marketplace plans and the associated rapid declines in the number of the uninsured are expected to slow significantly, contributing to a lower rate of growth in health spending (4.8 percent).
• Health spending growth is expected to accelerate and average 5.7 percent for 2017 through 2019 as a result of gradual increases in economy-wide and medical-specific prices.  Also contributing to faster average growth over these three years are increases in the use and intensity of medical goods and services driven by greater gains in disposable personal income.
• Projected average growth of 6.0 percent is anticipated for 2020 through 2025, the fastest of the sub-periods examined.  Growth in spending for Medicare is notable as strong enrollment growth amongst baby boomers, and a return to higher utilization rates of Medicare services that more closely resemble their historical average, drives 7.6 percent average growth.  Projected average growth of 6.1 percent in Medicaid is driven primarily by the changing profile of that program’s population as an increasingly higher share of beneficiaries is comprised of comparatively expensive aged and disabled individuals.

For further detail see NHE projections 2015-2025 in downloads below.

NHE by Age Group and Gender, Selected Years 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2012:

• Per person personal health care spending for the 65 and older population was $18,988 in 2012, over 5 times higher than spending per child ($3,552) and approximately 3 times the spending per working-age person ($6,632).
• In 2012, children accounted for approximately 25 percent of the population and slightly less than 12 percent of all PHC spending.
• The working-age group comprised the majority of spending and population in 2012, almost 54 percent and over 61 percent respectively.
• The elderly were the smallest population group, nearly 14 percent of the population, and accounted for approximately 34 percent of all spending in 2012.
• Per person spending for females ($8,315) was 22 percent more than males ($6,788) in 2012.
• In 2012, per person spending for male children (0-18) was 9 percent more than females.  However, for the working age and elderly groups, per person spending for females was 28 and 7 percent more than for males.

For further detail see health expenditures by age in downloads below.

NHE by State of Residence, 1991-2009:

• In 2009, per capita personal health care spending ranged from a high of $9,278 in Massachusetts to $5,031 in Utah, where spending was the lowest.
• In 2009, the highest per capita spending occurred in Massachusetts, Alaska, Connecticut, Maine, and Delaware, with spending 24 percent or more above the U.S. average.
• In 2009, the states with the lowest spending per capita were Utah, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, and Nevada, with spending 16 percent or more below the U.S. average.
• Medicare expenditures per beneficiary were highest in New Jersey ($11,903) and lowest in Montana ($7,576) in 2009.
• Medicaid expenditures per enrollee were highest in Alaska ($11,569) and lowest in California ($4,569) in 2009.

For further detail, see health expenditures by state of residence in downloads below.

NHE by State of Provider, 1980-2009:

• California's aggregate personal health care spending was the highest in the nation, representing 11.1 percent of total U.S. personal health care spending in 2009.
• Wyoming's aggregate personal health care spending was the lowest in the nation, representing just 0.2 percent of total U.S. personal health care spending in 2009.
• All states except Delaware, Virginia, and Wyoming spent 12 percent or more of their state GDP on health care in 2009.
• On average, between 2004 and 2009, aggregate personal health care spending grew the fastest in Alaska (8.0 percent) and the slowest in Vermont (3.3 percent).

For further detail, see health expenditures by state of provider in downloads below.