We have discussed the level of national health expenditures
(NHE) in the U.S. and looked to some degree at how much is being
spent for care by various service categories such as hospitals,
physicians, etc.
Examine the expenditure trends over the last 40 years. What are
the direction and magnitude of changes in spending in and between
these various categories (with the exception of the catch-all
category of “other”), the percentage of GDP spent on NHE, and the
NHE per capita?
The figures have been adjusted for inflation. So while general
inflation contributes, along with other factors, to the rise in NHE
generally, expressing these figures in real (inflation-adjusted)
dollars compensates for the effect of general inflation. As a
result, and assuming that not all of the increase in healthcare
costs is related to the increase in utilization, what can you say
about the price of medical care services?
From examining the rates of growth in the various sectors, what
trends do you see in the mix of health services used by the
American public? What factors might contribute to these trends?
