Total Health Spending Reached $3.1 Trillion Between 1996-2016, Study Suggests

Total health care spending rose from roughly $1.4 trillion in 1996 to about $3.1 trillion in 2016, a recent study published in JAMA suggests.

Researchers also found that private insurers covered about 48 percent of health spending in 2016. Public insurance accounted for 42.6 percent of spending, with out-of-pocket costs accounting for the remaining 9.4 percent.

“Estimates of US spending on health care showed substantial increases from 1996 through 2016, with the highest increases in population-adjusted spending by public insurance,” the authors write. “Although spending on low back and neck pain, other musculoskeletal disorders, and diabetes accounted for the highest amounts of spending, the payers and the rates of change in annual spending growth rates varied considerably.”

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