DataPoint: National Health Expenditures

Total health care spending by all payers in the U.S. increased 5.8 percent in 2015 to reach $3.2 trillion, or $9,990 per person. Much of the increase was attributable to Affordable Care Act (ACA) expansions, although the 2015 increase remained below spending growth rates in most years prior to the passage of the ACA. Health insurance coverage rose from 86 percent in 2013 to 90.9 percent in 2015. In total, 17.8 percent of the American economy in 2015 was dedicated to health care, up from 17.4 percent in 2014.

Hospital care, which represents 32 percent of health care spending, saw a 5.6 percent increase in 2015 primarily due to increases in use and intensity of services. Hospital services also witnessed a faster growth in Medicaid and private health insurance spending. Home health care, which represents 3 percent of health care spending, saw an increase of 6.3 percent to $88.8 billion. Spending on nursing facility and continuing care retirement community services increased by 2.7 percent, with Medicare spending growing by 5.6 percent.

Overall Medicare spending grew by 4.5 percent to $646.2 billion in 2015. While the Medicaid spending growth rate slowed slightly, the 9.7 percent rate was twice the Medicare growth rate. Enrollment growth also contributed to the increasing 2015 private health insurance and out-of-pocket health expenditures. Fact sheets are posted here, while the link to the full report is available here.

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820