The Agent's Health Spending Data Survival Kit

A team led by Micah Hartman has published an easy-to-read, copyrighted version of the data, behind a paywall, on the website of Health Affairs, an academic journal. That version of the data is available here.

The team has also published a collection of data spreadsheets and more technical summaries of the data on the CMS website. That collection of data, which is copyright-free, is available here.

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All of the figures in the article and the spreadsheets are fair game for producers can use.

Producers can:

• Read the data to see for themselves, free from media bias, what's been happening to the U.S. health care finance and delivery finance systems.

• Put the data marketing presentations, brochures, social media posts, web videos and blog articles.

• Build the data into proposals.

For a look at five especially useful gulps of information from the article, and the spreadsheets, read on.

(Image: Thinkstock)

1. National Health Expenditure Basics

Total GDP (national income):

2015: $18.1 trillion

2016: $18.6 trillion

Change: +2.8%

GDP per capita (in other words: per person):

2015: $56,580

2016: $57,751

Change: +2.1%

Total health expenditures:

2015: $3.2 trillion

2016: $3.3 trillion

Change: +4.3%

Health expenditures per capita:

2015: $9,994

2016: $10,348

Change: +3.5%

2. Total Spending by Coverage Type

Private health insurance:

2015: $1.07 trillion

2016: $1.12 trillion

Change: +5.1%

Medicare:

2015: $648.8 billion

2016: $671.1 billion

Change: +3.6%

Medicaid: 

2015: $544.1 billion

2016: $565.5 billion

Change: +3.9%

3. Per Enrollee Spending by Coverage Type

Private health insurance:

2015: $5,445

2016: $5,721

Change: +5.1%

Medicare:

2015: $11,951

2016: $12,046

Change: 0.8%

Medicaid:

2015: $7,870

2016: $7,941

Change: +0.9%

4. Notable Spending Categories

These figures represent the change in total spending within a category between 2015 and 2016.

Hospital care: +4.7% (down from 5.7%)

Physician care: +5.4% (down from 5.9%)

Dental care: +4.6% (up from 4.4%)

Home health care: +4% (down from 5.8%)

Nursing home care: +2.9% (down from 3.7%)

Durable medical equipment: +4.9% (up from 4.1%)

Retail prescription drugs: +1.3% (down from 8.9%)

5. Medical Research

Spending on noncommercial medical research increased just 2.6% in 2016, but that's up from an increase of 1.2% in 2015.

The increase in spending on noncommercial medical research is the biggest the government has recorded since 2010.

6. Private Health Insurance

Here are the 2016 spending figures, and year-over-year change figures, for some noteworthy spending categories:

Hospital care: $426.7 billion (+6.6%)

Physician and clinical services: $287.3 billion (+5.8%)

Dental services: $57.7 billion (+4.8%)

Home health care: $9.6 (+2.8%)

Nursing care facilities and continuing care retirement communities: $14.8 billion (+5.9%)

Prescription drugs: $142.6 billion (+0.8%)

Durable medical equipment: $9.9 billion (+9.5%)

7. Net Cost of Insurance

This is what private health insurers have left over for marketing, compliance costs, producer compensation and profit after paying claims.

2015: $125.5 billion

2016: $129.6 billion

Change: +3.3%

8. Net Cost of Insurance as a Share of Private Health Insurance Spending

2015: 11.7%

2016: 11.5%

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