What the U.S. spends on health care, who pays and what it buys, from the national health accounts kept by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. One number tells the long story: the share of the whole economy.
A bigger slice of the economy
U.S. health spending as a share of GDP, 2015–2024 · members see every year since 1960Show the numbers
| Year | % of GDP | Total ($B) | Per person |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18.0% | 5,278.6 | $15,474 |
| 2023 | 17.7% | 4,925.3 | $14,580 |
| 2022 | 17.6% | 4,586.6 | $13,689 |
| 2021 | 18.4% | 4,376.9 | $13,137 |
| 2020 | 19.7% | 4,204.3 | $12,637 |
| 2019 | 17.7% | 3,805.1 | $11,487 |
| 2018 | 17.6% | 3,637.7 | $11,042 |
| 2017 | 17.7% | 3,464.2 | $10,582 |
| 2016 | 17.7% | 3,324.1 | $10,229 |
| 2015 | 17.4% | 3,177.2 | $9,860 |
What changed in 2024, by who pays
- Private insurance▲+$133.4B +8.8%
- Medicare▲+$80.7B +7.8%
- Medicaid▲+$58.0B +6.6%
- +2 more for members
More charts
Who pays
MembersSee Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance take over from out-of-pocket payments since 1960.
What it buys
MembersSee hospitals, doctors, drugs and nursing homes ranked, and how each has grown.
Full history is part of Point75 membership: every year since 1960, who pays and what it buys, updated with each CMS release.
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About the dataCMS National Health Expenditure Accounts · U.S. federal data · yearly
The National Health Expenditure Accounts are the official estimates of U.S. spending on health care, kept by the CMS Office of the Actuary since 1960 and published each December for the year before last. Dollar amounts are in current dollars. “Everyone else” covers the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs, other public programs, worksite care and other private funds, investment and public health.
Source: National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary.