This chart collection explores recently released National Health Expenditure (NHE) data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These data offer insights into changes in health spending over time as well as the driving forces behind spending growth. The data specifically show how health spending and consumption in 2020 deviated from historic trends due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health spending totaled $74.1 billion in 1970. By 2000, health expenditures had reached about $1.4 trillion, and in 2020 the amount spent on health tripled to $4.1 trillion. Health spending increased by 9.7% from 2019 to 2020, much faster than the 4.3% increase from 2018 to 2019. The average annual growth in health spending from 2010-2019 was 4.2%. Total health expenditures represent the amount spent on health care and related activities (such as administration of insurance, health research, and public health), including expenditures from both public and private funds.
