Suchergebnisse

The United States spent an estimated $287 billion for health care in 1981 (Figure 1), an amount equal to 9.8 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP). Highlights of the figures that underly this estimate include the following: Health care expenditures continued to grow at a rapid rate in 1981, at a time when the economy as a whole exhibited sluggish growth. The 9.8 percent share of the GNP was a dramatic increase from the 8.9 percent share seen just two years earlier.Health care expenditures amounted to $1,225 per person in 1981 (Table 1). Of that amount, $524, or 42.7 percent, came from public funds.Hospital care accounted for 41.2 percent of total health care spending in 1981 (Table 2). These expenditures increased 17.5 percent from 1980, to a level of $118 billion.Spending for the services of physicians increased 16.9 percent to $55 billion—19.1 percent of all health care spending.Public sources provided 42.7 percent of the money spent on health in 1981, including Federal payments of $84 billion and $39 billion in State and local government funds (Table 3).All third parties combined—private health insurers, governments, private charities, and Industry—financed 67.9 percent of the $255 billion in personal health care in 1981 (Table 4), covering 89.2 percent of hospital care services, 62.1 percent of physicians' services, and 41.3 percent of the remainder (Table 5).Direct patient payments for health care reached $82 billion in 1981, accounting for 32.1 percent of all personal health care expenses (Table 6). Consumers and their employers paid another $73 billion in premiums to private health insurers, $67 billion of which was returned in the form of benefits.Outlays for health care benefits by the Medicare and Medicaid programs totaled $73 billion, including $42 billion for hospital care. The two programs combined paid for 28.6 percent of all personal health care in the nation (Table 7).

The United States spent an estimated $247 billion for health care in 1980 (Figure 1), an amount equal to 9.4 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP). Highlights of the figures that underlie this estimate include the following: Health care expenditures in 1980 accelerated at a time when the economy as a whole exhibited sluggish growth. The 9.4 percent share of the GNP was a dramatic increase from the 8.9 percent share in 1979.Health care expenditures amounted to $1,067 per person in 1980 (Table 1). Of that amount, $450, or 42.2 percent, came from public funds.Expenditures for health care included $64.9 billion in premiums to private health insurance, $70.9 billion in Federal payments, and $33.3 billion in State and local government funds (Table 2).Hospital care accounted for 40.3 percent of total health care spending in 1980 (Table 3). These expenditures increased 16.2 percent between 1979 and 1980, to a level of $99.6 billion.Spending for the services of physicians increased 14.5 percent to $46.6 billion, 18.9 percent of all health care spending.All third parties combined—private health insurers, governments, philanthropists, and industry—financed 67.6 percent of the $217.9 billion spent for personal health care in 1980 (Table 4), ranging from 90.9 percent of hospital care services to 62.7 percent of physicians' services and 38.5 percent of the remainder (Table 5).Direct payments by consumers reached $70.6 billion in 1980 (Table 6). This accounted for 32.4 percent of all personal health care expenses.Outlays for health care benefits by the Medicare and Medicaid programs totaled $60.6 billion, including $35.8 billion for hospital care. The two programs combined to pay for 27.8 percent of all personal health care in the nation (Table 7).

Rapid growth in the share of the nation's gross national product devoted to health expenditure has heightened concern over the survival of government entitlement programs and has led to debate of the desirability of current methods of financing health care. In this article, the authors present the data at the heart of the issue, quantifying spending for various types of health care in 1982 and discussing the sources of funds for that spending.