“Overall health spending growth has been extremely volatile over the last few years, compared to the relatively stable pre-pandemic period (Figure 1). After consistent annual growth of around 3% (in real terms) during the pre-COVID period, health spending increased substantially across the OECD in 2020 (5.0%) and 2021 (8.2%) as a result of the inflow of additional financial resources needed to fight the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and address its health consequences. As the world transitioned out of the acute phase of the pandemic, the financial resources dedicated to health declined as new public spending priorities emerged. In around three-quarters of OECD countries, health spending growth fell back in 2022 leading to an overall drop of around 2%. Preliminary data for 2023 point to slight positive growth across the OECD but with substantial heterogeneity across countries. Stubbornly high general inflation rates (particularly across some European countries) continued to constrain any “real” growth in health spending.

“To illustrate these differences, Denmark and Germany followed a similar trend pre-COVID and in the early phase of the pandemic but diverged to some extent thereafter. Denmark saw a significant drop in overall health spending in both 2022 and 2023. While the same was true for Germany the fall was mostly delayed until 2023. In both countries, these drops in spending were mainly due to the phasing out of the substantial COVID-19-related funding introduced early on in the pandemic. In Lithuania, real health spending growth in 2021 was much higher than the OECD average, but with much of the additional funding of a temporary nature, health spending steeply declined in subsequent years. This fall in real terms was partly a result of unusually high inflation in the country in 2022 and 2023. Away from Europe, other spending patterns can be discerned. In Chile, for example, health spending stagnated in 2020 but growth was more than double the OECD average in 2021 and, in contrast to most OECD countries, continued to grow in 2022. Korea has seen strong health spending growth continue over many years. Apart from 2020 with the global onset of COVID-19, growth rates have continued to remain above the OECD average.”

Source: OECD (2024), “Latest health spending trends: Navigating beyond the recent crises”, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/df0bb1ba-en.

“The pandemic and the cost-of-living and energy crisis led to diverging growth patterns across key health services (Figure 4). Whereas the average annual growth rates of services such as inpatient care, outpatient care, long-term care, prevention, pharmaceuticals and administration remained relatively stable (2-4%) from 2015 to 2019, this changed drastically with the onset of the pandemic. In response to the public health emergency in 2020, growth in spending on inpatient care, pharmaceuticals (including medical non-durables such as face coverings) and administrative services roughly doubled while preventive spending increased by 40%. This extra spending was a result of the increased capacity to treat COVID-19 patients, additional bonuses to hospital staff and in some cases substantial subsidies to hospitals to avoid financial difficulties. There was significant investment in public health measures to detect and combat the spread of the virus. There was also a surge in administrative spending to cover additional emergency and response planning. On the other hand, spending on outpatient care stagnated in 2020, as many health providers and patients postponed care, partly to reduce the risk of infection. This was particularly true for dental and specialised care. Spending on long-term care remained more in line with historic growth patterns.

“In 2021, average outpatient spending growth rebounded by 9% with attempts to “catch up” delayed or deferred treatment. Preventive spending growth further accelerated in 2021 with the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. After the exceptional growth in 2020, inpatient spending returned to historic growth rates as the additional hospital funding was phased out. In 2022, spending dropped across all categories (apart from long-term care) as most OECD countries transitioned out of the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. With Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crises and high inflationary pressures, public spending on health came under pressure.

“The financial resources directly associated with COVID-19 were unprecedented. In the first year of the pandemic, an estimated 6% of all public spending on health across the OECD was spent to fight the spread of the virus or provide treatment to COVID-19 patients. This proportion jumped to nearly 10% in 2021 as infections peaked in many OECD countries and vaccination campaigns were rolled out. By 2022, the acute phase of the pandemic ended, and many OECD countries cut back on these additional resources. As a result, the proportion of public spending on health dedicated to the pandemic dropped below 5% in 2022 and is estimated to have fallen to around 1% in 2023.”

Source: OECD (2024), “Latest health spending trends: Navigating beyond the recent crises”, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/df0bb1ba-en.

“In 2019, prior to the pandemic, OECD countries were spending, on average, around 8.8% of their GDP on healthcare, a figure relatively unchanged since 2013. By 2021, this proportion had jumped to 9.7%. However, preliminary estimates for 2022 point to a significant fall in the ratio to 9.2%, reflecting both a reduced need for spending to tackle the pandemic as well as the impact of inflation reducing the value of health spending (OECD, 2023[1]). The United States still spent by far the most, equivalent to 16.6% of its GDP – well above Germany, the next highest spending country, at 12.7% (Figure 7.1). After the United States and Germany, a group of 15 high-income countries, including Canada, France and Japan, all spent more than 10% of their GDP on healthcare. In many of the Central and Eastern European OECD countries, as well as in the newer OECD member countries from Latin America, spending on health accounted for between 6-9% of their GDP. Finally, Luxembourg and Türkiye spent less than 6% of their GDP on healthcare.

“An analysis of the trends in per capita health spending and GDP over the last 15 years shows two shocks: the economic and financial crisis in 2008 and the recent impact of COVID-19 in 2020 (Figure 7.2). While OECD economies sharply contracted in 2008 and 2009, health spending growth was maintained in the short term before hovering just above zero as a range of different policy measures to rein in public spending on health were put in place between 2010 and 2012. This was followed by a return to somewhat stronger growth, both in health spending and GDP up until the pandemic. In 2020, widespread lockdowns and other public health measures severely restricting economic activity and consumer spending sent many OECD economies into freefall. There was a rebound in 2021 with per capita GDP increasing by 5.8% on average. At the same time, real per capita spending on health accelerated from just over 4% in 2020 to 8% in 2021 as countries allocated additional funding to tackle the pandemic. With countries emerging from the acute stage of the pandemic, health spending per capita is likely to have fallen on average by close to 1.5% in real terms in 2022.”

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

“The incidence of catastrophic health spending ranges from under 2% of households in Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom to over 14% in Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine, with a median value of 6% overall and 4% for the EU (Fig. 4).

“Country averages conceal major differences in impact. Households in the poorest quintile are consistently most likely to experience financial hardship due to out-of-pocket payments (Fig. 4). They account for at least 40% of households with catastrophic health spending in every country in the study and for over 70% in Croatia, Czechia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and Ukraine (data not shown). Within countries, the incidence of catastrophic health spending in the poorest quintile is two to five times higher than the national average (Fig. 5).

“In 32 countries at least 20% of households with catastrophic health spending are also further impoverished after out-of-pocket payments – that is, they do not have enough to meet their basic needs but still incur out-of-pocket payments (Fig. 6). This share rises to over 40% in 15 of these countries.”

Source: Can people afford to pay for health care? Evidence on financial protection in 40 countries in Europe. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NCSA 3.0 IGO.

“Across countries, catastrophic incidence rises as the out-of-pocket payment share rises. It is generally low in countries where the out-of-pocket share of current spending on health is less than or close to 15%. Out-of-pocket payments account for more than 15% of spending in most countries in Europe (including many EU countries) (see Fig. 1), which suggests that many need to reduce their reliance on out-of-pocket payments to improve financial protection.

“Health accounts data indicate that public spending on health is much more likely to reduce out-of-pocket payments than voluntary health insurance (VHI). Measured as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), public spending on health is relatively strongly associated with a lower reliance on out-of-pocket payments (Fig. 17). In contrast, there is no relationship between VHI and out-of-pocket payments across countries in Europe (Fig. 18) or globally (Wagstaff et al., 2018), even though VHI plays a significant role in reducing out-of-pocket payments in three countries (Croatia, France and Slovenia; see the section “Avoid thinking VHI is the answer”).

“Data on health spending do not fully explain differences in out-of-pocket payments and the incidence of catastrophic health spending across countries, however. There are large differences in reliance on out-of-pocket payments in countries with the same level of public spending on health as a share of GDP (see Fig. 17). There are also large differences in catastrophic health spending in countries with the same reliance on out-of-pocket payments (see Fig. 16). This suggests that increases in public spending or reductions in out-of-pocket payments are not necessarily enough to improve financial protection in all contexts. Policies play a key role in determining financial protection, not just patterns of spending on health, as we discuss in the next chapter.”

Source: Can people afford to pay for health care? Evidence on financial protection in 40 countries in Europe. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2023. Licence: CC BY-NCSA 3.0 IGO.

“Global spending on health¹ in 2022 was US$ 9.8 trillion, or 9.9% of global GDP (Fig. 1.1).² This was a decline from 2021—the first in real terms since 2000.³ However, it follows a surge in health spending during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, while global spending on health in 2022 was off its peak, it remained above its 2019 level, the year immediately preceding the pandemic. In 2022, global spending on health returned to a similar share of global GDP as in 2019.

“Between 2000 and 2022, global spending on health rose substantially, but the unequal distribution of health spending across countries persisted. Global spending on health more than doubled from US$ 4.5 trillion in constant prices in 2000 to US$ 9.8 trillion in 2022. Over the same period, global GDP increased by 87%, implying that overall health spending grew faster than global GDP. Domestic public spending on health⁴ more than doubled in real terms, to US$ 6.1 trillion, while private spending increased by 85%, to US$ 3.7 trillion.

“Health spending remains uneven. In 2022, high income countries5 accounted for 79% of global health spending (with the United States of America alone accounting for 43%) (Fig. 1.2). Average health spending per capita⁶ in high income countries was US$ 3,731, seven times the US$ 540 in upper-middle income countries, 28 times the US$ 132 in lower-middle income countries and 87 times the US$ 43 in low income countries.⁷“

Source: Global spending on health: emerging from the pandemic. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“Health spending per capita in 2022 remained above pre–COVID-19 pandemic levels in all country income groups. Health spending was volatile throughout the pandemic, as countries responded in different ways to the evolution of the virus (including its prevalence and variants) and began transitioning from the emergency phase at different speeds (Fig. 1.3). In high income countries, average health spending per capita fell by 4% in 2022 in real US dollar terms compared with 2021 but remained about 5% higher than before the pandemic in 2019. In upper-middle income countries, health spending per capita fell by 3% from 2021 to 2022 but remained 8% higher than in 2019. In lower-middle income countries, health spending per capita rose by 2% in 2022, to be 10% higher than in 2019. In low income countries, health spending per capita was unchanged in 2022 compared with the previous year, remaining 8% higher than before the pandemic, albeit with an average increase of only US$ 3.

“Average health spending as share of GDP was also higher in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic.⁸ Average health spending across all countries as a share of GDP in 2022 was 6.7%, slightly less than in 2020 and 2021 but above the 6.3% in 2019.⁹ In high income countries, average health spending as a share of GDP was 8.3% in 2022, down from its pandemic peak in 2020, in large part reflecting the recovery of the economy and a return to growth, but 0.2 percentage point above its prepandemic level in 2019 (Fig. 1.4). Similarly, in upper-middle income countries, health spending as a share of GDP declined slightly in 2022, to 6.5%, from 2021 but remained 0.3 percentage point higher than its prepandemic level because health spending grew faster than GDP during the pandemic.

“Lower-middle income countries reported small consistent increases in health spending as a share of GDP throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, average health spending as a share of GDP was 5.3%, 0.4 percentage point higher than in 2019. In low income countries, health spending remained unchanged in 2022, at 6.6% of GDP, or 0.7 percentage point higher than in 2019.”

Source: Global spending on health: emerging from the pandemic. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“An analysis of the trends in per capita health spending and GDP over the last 15 years shows two shocks: the economic and financial crisis in 2008 and the recent impact of COVID-19 in 2020 (Figure 7.2). While OECD economies sharply contracted in 2008 and 2009, health spending growth was maintained in the short term before hovering just above zero as a range of different policy measures to rein in public spending on health were put in place between 2010 and 2012. This was followed by a return to somewhat stronger growth, both in health spending and GDP up until the pandemic. In 2020, widespread lockdowns and other public health measures severely restricting economic activity and consumer spending sent many OECD economies into freefall. There was a rebound in 2021 with per capita GDP increasing by 5.8% on average. At the same time, real per capita spending on health accelerated from just over 4% in 2020 to 8% in 2021 as countries allocated additional funding to tackle the pandemic. With countries emerging from the acute stage of the pandemic, health spending per capita is likely to have fallen on average by close to 1.5% in real terms in 2022.

“Trends in the health-to-GDP ratio over this period translate into a distinct pattern with significant step increases in 2009 and 2020, and a period of stability in between (Figure 7.3). Italy and the United Kingdom, for example, have closely followed this trend, with the latter showing an even more pronounced jump in 2021. Germany has seen a rather continual increase in the share of GDP over time. Despite the shocks, health spending as a share of GDP in Korea has seen a continual and steady increase throughout the last 15 years, from 4.8% in 2006 and reaching 9.7% in 2022.”

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

“In 2019, average per capita health spending in OECD countries (when adjusted for differences in purchasing power) was estimated to be more than USD 4,000, while in the United States it reached the equivalent of almost USD 11,000 for every US citizen. Switzerland, the next highest spender among OECD countries, had health expenditure of around two‑thirds of this level (Figure 7.4). In addition to Switzerland, only a handful of high-income OECD countries, including Germany, Norway and Sweden, spent more than half of the US spending on health, while others, such as Japan and the United Kingdom, were around the OECD average. Lowest per capita spenders on health among OECD member countries were Colombia, Turkey and Mexico, with health expenditure of around a quarter of the OECD average. Latest available estimates show that per capita spending in China was just under 20% of the OECD average, while both India and Indonesia spent between 6% and 8% of this figure.”

Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.

“Drawing on publicly available national household budget survey data, the report provides up-to-date numbers on financial protection for 24 highand middle-income countries in Europe.

“• The incidence of impoverishing health spending in the study countries ranges from 0.3% to 9.0% of households. There is wide variation among European Union (EU) countries (from 0.3% to 5.9%) and among non-EU countries also (from 3.6% to 9.0%).

“• The incidence of catastrophic health spending ranges from 1% to 17% of households in the study countries. It varies widely among the 18 EU countries in the study, including wide variation among countries that joined the EU after 30 April 2004.

“• Catastrophic health spending is consistently heavily concentrated among the poorest fifth of the population.

“• Out-of-pocket payments incurred by households with catastrophic health spending are mainly due to outpatient medicines, followed by inpatient care and dental care.”

Source: Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Europe. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

“Financial protection indicators capture financial hardship arising from the use of health services, but do not indicate whether out-of-pocket payments create a barrier to access, resulting in unmet need. Bringing together for the first time data on financial hardship and unmet need across Europe reveals the following findings.

“• In countries where the incidence of catastrophic health spending is very low, unmet need also tends to be low and without significant income inequality.

“• In a few countries, the incidence of catastrophic health spending is relatively low, but there is a high level of unmet need, particularly among poor households, which suggests that health care is not as affordable as the financial protection indicators alone imply.

“• In many countries, the incidence of catastrophic health spending and levels of unmet need are both relatively high, and income inequality in unmet need is also significant, indicating that health services are not at all affordable, and that if everyone were able to use the services they needed, financial hardship would be even greater, particularly among
poorer households.

“• Some health services – notably dental care – are a much greater source of financial hardship for richer households than poorer households. This reflects higher levels of unmet need for dental care among poorer households than richer households in most countries.

“• Outpatient medicines are an important source of financial hardship in many countries and among the poorest quintile in most countries.

“• Unmet need for prescribed medicines is also generally higher in countries with a higher incidence of catastrophic health spending, which indicates that out-of-pocket payments for medicines lead to both financial hardship and unmet need for poorer people.”

Source: Can people afford to pay for health care? New evidence on financial protection in Europe. Copenhagen: WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

World Health Systems Facts currently has sections on the US and sixteen other OECD nations. The links below lead directly to national sections on Healthcare Spending:

Breaking News

• Medicare, Prior Authorization, and a Six-State Trial of AI September 8, 2025
  The US government is preparing to trial the use of artificial intelligence, large language models, and machine learning in a prior authorization review process for medical procedures under the Medicare program. The New York Times reports (Reed Abelson and Teddy Rosenbluth, “Medicare Will Require Prior Approval for Certain Procedures,” NY Times, August 28, 2025): “The federal government ...
• WHO Releases World Health Report 2025 May 15, 2025
  May 15, 2025 The WHO released its World Health Report 2025 on May 15, 2025. According to the WHO: “An estimated 1.4 billion more people were living healthier by the end of 2024, surpassing the 1 billion target. The progress in healthier lives was driven by reduction in tobacco use, improved air quality and better access ...
• WHO: Nursing workforce grows but disparities in access persist May 15, 2025
  May 15, 2025 A new report issued May 12 by the World Health Organization finds that “1 in 7 nurses worldwide – and 23% in high-income countries – are foreign-born, highlighting reliance on international migration.” The WHO reports that: “The global nursing workforce has grown from 27.9 million in 2018 to 29.8 million in 2023, but wide disparities in ...
• WHO: Health inequities are shortening lives by decades May 15, 2025
  May 15, 2025 A new report issued May 6th by the World Health Organization finds that “underlying causes of ill health often stem from factors beyond the health sector, such as lack of quality housing, education and job opportunities.” According to the WHO, the new World report on social determinants of health equity shows that “such determinants can ...
• Medical Debt in Collections in the US May 1, 2025
  August 6, 2021 On July 20, JAMA published an article on medical debt in collections in the US entitled “Medical Debt in the US, 2009-2020.” The researchers found: “In this retrospective analysis of credit reports for a nationally representative 10% panel of individuals, an estimated 17.8% of individuals in the US had medical debt in collections in ...
• Healthcare in the US Compared to Other High-Income Countries May 1, 2025
  August 6, 2021 On August 4, the Commonwealth Fund issued a new report entitled Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly / Health Care in the US Compared to Other High-Income Countries. The report compares health care systems in eleven nations: the United States, Canada, Switzerland, France, Sweden, New Zealand, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and Norway. The ...
• Gallup: 11% of US Adults Unable to Afford or Access Quality Healthcare April 2, 2025
  April 2, 2025 Eleven percent of US adults are unable to afford or access quality healthcare, according to new research by Gallup and West Health. According to Gallup (“In U.S., Inability to Pay for Care, Medicine Hits New High,” April 2, 2025, last accessed April 2, 2025): “The most notable increases since 2021 have occurred among Hispanic adults ...
• Healthcare Policies in US States: The Washington Cares Fund March 6, 2025
  March 6, 2025 The Washington Cares Fund is a long-term care insurance program operated by the state of Washington. According to the WA Cares Fund website (accessed March 6, 2025), “All working Washingtonians contribute a small percentage of their income into the fund. Then when you need care, you can access your earned benefit of $36,500 ...
• US Healthcare Spending Hits $4.9 Trillion December 18, 2024
  December 18, 2024 US healthcare spending continues to grow. According to an article in the journal Health Affairs (Anne B. Martin, Micah Hartman, Benjamin Washington, Aaron Catlin, and The National Health Expenditure Accounts Team, National Health Expenditures In 2023: Faster Growth As Insurance Coverage And Utilization Increased, Health Affairs (2024), doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2024.01375): “National health care spending reached $4.9 trillion in 2023 (or ...
• Support Grows for Government-Run Health System December 9, 2024
  Gallup recently released results from its annual Health and Healthcare Poll, which are based on telephone interviews conducted November 6-20, 2024 with a random sample of 1,001 adults living in the US. The new data show that support for the US adopting a government-run healthcare system is growing. According to Gallup (Jeffrey M. Jones, “More in ...
• Nearly One Fourth of Working Age Adults Underinsured, New Report Shows November 22, 2024
  November 22, 2024 The Commonwealth Fund on November 21, 2024 released a new report on insurance coverage in the US. According to The State of Health Insurance Coverage in the U.S.: “• More than half (56%) of U.S. working-age adults were insured all year with coverage adequate to ensure affordable access to care. But there are soft ...
• World Health Systems Facts is @HealthSystemsFacts.bsky.social November 14, 2024
  November 14, 2024 World Health Systems Facts now has an account on the social media platform BlueSky, we’re @HealthSystemsFacts.bsky.social. Give us a follow! Health System OverviewHealth System RankingsHealth System OutcomesHealth ExpendituresHealth System FinancingCoverage and AccessCosts for ConsumersHealth System Resources and UtilizationPreventive Healthcare Healthcare WorkersHealthcare Workforce Education and TrainingLong-Term Services and SupportsHealth Information and Communications TechnologiesPharmaceuticalsPeople With DisabilitiesAgingSocial Determinants ...
• Nonprofit Hospitals and Charity Care November 7, 2024
  November 7, 2024 Two new reports throw light on the level of charity care actually provided by nonprofit hospitals in the US. As noted in US Nonprofit Hospitals Have Widely Varying Criteria To Decide Who Qualifies For Free And Discounted Charity Care (Luke Messac, Alexander T. Janke, Lisa Herrup Rogers, Imani Fonfield, Jared Walker, Elijah Rushbanks, Nora V. Becker, and Ge Bai, US Nonprofit ...
• Doximity Releases 2024 Physician Compensation Report October 16, 2024
  October 16, 2024 The physician networking, communications, and staffing company Doximity has released its 2024 Physician Compensation Report. According to Doximity, “Doximity found that after several years of modest or declining growth, the average pay for doctors increased nearly 6% in 2023, rebounding from a decline of 2.4% in 2022.” The report noted that “In 2023, the gender ...
• Commonwealth Fund Releases Newest Installment of its Mirror Mirror Series of National Health System Comparisons September 21, 2024
  September 21, 2024 The Commonwealth Fund has released the newest installment of its Mirror Mirror series, which compares various national health systems with the US. According to Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System: “Key Findings: The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, although differences in overall performance between ...
• Baker Institute Report Examines Hospital Prices, Costs, and Profits September 11, 2024
  Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy has issued a new report on hospital finances. The report, entitled Prices Versus Costs: Unpacking Rising US Hospital Profits, compares “the commercial operating costs, net patient revenue from commercial patients, and commercial operating profits of hospitals with different price levels to examine if higher prices are charged to ...
• Healthcare in the US Becoming Less Affordable July 23, 2024
  July 23, 2024 The ability of Americans to access affordable healthcare has declined in recent years, according to a new report by Gallup and the nonprofit West Health. According to the report, entitled Tracking Healthcare Affordability and Value: The West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index and Healthcare Value Index: “Cost security among U.S. adults has dipped to its lowest ...
• NY Times Investigative Series on Pharmacy Benefit Managers and High Prescription Drug Costs June 21, 2024
  June 21, 2024 The New York Times has begun a new series about how pharmacy benefit managers prioritize their own interests at the expense of patients, employers, and the public. Part one, entitled “The Opaque Industry Secretly Inflating Prices for Prescription Drugs,” was published June 21, 2024. According to the Times: “The three largest pharmacy benefit managers, ...
• Journalism Organizations Plan Webinar Series on Business of Healthcare February 14, 2024
  February 14, 2024 The Association of Health Care Journalists and Investigative Reporters & Editors, with the support of the NIHCM Foundation, are hosting a series of free webinars for journalists on the business of healthcare. The series is entitled “Follow the Money: The Business of Health Care.” The first webinar, “Using HospitalFinances.org and other tools to tell money stories,” ...
• US Healthcare Spending in 2022: $4.5 Trillion January 2, 2024
  January 2, 2024 According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (accessed January 2, 2024): “US health care spending grew 4.1 percent to reach $4.5 trillion in 2022, faster than the increase of 3.2 percent in 2021 but much slower than the rate of 10.6 percent in 2020. The growth in 2022 reflected strong ...
• Baker Institute: More Texans Insured Thanks To The ACA November 23, 2023
  November 23, 2023 Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy reports that more Texans have health insurance coverage now thanks to the Affordable Care Act. According to the Institute’s November 14 issue brief, entitled Looking at the Numbers: 10 Years of Data on the Affordable Care Act Reveal Benefits for Texans: “When the ACA was enacted in ...
• Update: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations Moving Forward October 19, 2023
  Negotiations between the federal government and the manufacturers of ten prescription drugs over prices for the Medicare program are moving forward. The American Hospital Association reported on Oct. 3, 2023 (“CMS: Makers of selected drugs agree to participate in Medicare price negotiation”): “The companies that make the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs selected to participate ...
• Medicare and Medicare Advantage October 15, 2023
  Medicare is a complicated system that mixes public and private insurance providers. As reported by the Scripps News Service on Oct. 21, 2022 (“Why Is Medicare So Complicated?”): “By the government’s last count in 2021, 64 million adults were enrolled in Medicare. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple to navigate. The Medicare maze is growing more ...
• Medicare Open Enrollment Season Runs October 15 – December 7 October 15, 2023
  Open enrollment season for Medicare is October 15 through December 7. According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (last accessed Oct. 15, 2023): “Medicare health and drug plans can make changes each year—things like cost, coverage, and what providers and pharmacies are in their networks. October 15 to December 7 is when all ...
• List of Drugs For Which Medicare Will Negotiate Prices Announced September 1, 2023
  September 1, 2023 On August 30, 2023, Kaiser Health News reported (“5 Things to Know About the New Drug Pricing Negotiations”): “The Biden administration has picked the first 10 high-priced prescription drugs subject to federal price negotiations, taking a swipe at the powerful pharmaceutical industry. It marks a major turning point in a long-fought battle to control ...
• Learning From Others June 14, 2023
  June 14, 2023 Professor Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS, is the Chief Health Officer of Indiana University. In a guest essay comparing the US health care system with the systems of five other nations that was published June 13, 2023 in the New York Times (“I Studied Five Countries’ Health Care Systems. We Need to Get ...
• Practice Consolidation and Access to Quality Care May 14, 2023
  May 14, 2023 The New York Times reports on a growing trend among healthcare organizations in the US, the impact of which may be of concern for patients and taxpayers. The Times reported on May 8, 2023 (“Corporate Giants Buy Up Primary Care Practices at Rapid Pace”) that: “CVS Health, with its sprawling pharmacy business and ownership ...
• Medicaid Re-Enrollment Begins Again April 1, 2023
  US states are restarting yearly Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility reviews. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported on February 22, 2023 (“10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision”): “Primarily due to the continuous enrollment provision, Medicaid enrollment has grown substantially compared to before the pandemic and the uninsured rate has dropped. ...
• The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care February 7, 2023
  February 7, 2023 The journal JAMA published a Viewpoint on Jan. 30, 2023 by Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, entitled Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care. In it, Dr. Berwick contends: “Profit may have its place in motivating innovation and higher quality in health care, as in any industry. But kleptocapitalist behaviors that raise ...
• Oregon Becomes First US State To Guarantee Its Residents Access To Affordable Healthcare January 20, 2023
  January 20, 2023 In the November 2022 general election, Oregon voters narrowly approved Oregon Measure 111, the Right to Healthcare Amendment. The measure amended the state constitution, adding a guarantee of access to affordable healthcare for all Oregon residents. According to Ballotpedia, last accessed Jan. 20, 2023: “Ballot title “The ballot title was as follows:“Amends Constitution: State must ...
• Massive Savings Possible In US Health System October 21, 2021
  October 21, 2021 The management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has issued a new report estimating that administrative changes and efficiencies could save the US health system more than a quarter trillion dollars. As noted in a Viewpoint article published in JAMA on October 20: “The analysis dissected profit and loss statements of individual health care organizations, estimated ...

World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated September 5, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.