follow the moneysnapshot taken 2026-09-07

Where the money goes

US health spending as a time series: what the country spends on health care, where it goes, how medical prices moved against all prices, and what two fixed baskets of named public companies reported as profit. Thirteen series, each from a single named federal or SEC source, each with its limits stated above its numbers. This page mirrors the explorer in the veisund app, because a chart inside an app cannot be linked, quoted or checked, and a page can.

Three rules that govern every number below. First, nothing is estimated or interpolated: every value is as published by the source named under its chart, and a number the sources do not publish is listed in the final section as missing rather than approximated. Second, each series carries its own caveat above its chart, because most of these lines are easy to over-read: nominal dollars are not inflation-adjusted, spending is not profit, and a basket of named companies is not an industry. Third, every value is plain text in the table under its chart, not only pixels in a picture.

The whole

Four views of the same total: dollars, share of the economy, dollars per person, and who finances it. The first and third are nominal dollars and mostly show inflation and population growth; the share-of-GDP line is the one that nets those out.

Total U.S. health spending

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Nominal (current) dollars, not adjusted for inflation or population growth. Compare against the CPI series and the per-person series before reading growth off this line.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Total U.S. health spending, 1960 to 2024, in $ billions.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ billions	27.1	29.1	31.8	34.6	38.2	41.6	45.8	51.2	58	65.4	74.1	82.4	92.4	102.7	116.3	132.7	152	172.6	193.9	219.7	253.2	293.6	330.9	364.8	401.9	439.9	472.3	514.5	576.7	642.1	718.7	785.9	852.2	914.9	965.6	1,020	1,073.1	1,132.4	1,197.8	1,272.5	1,365.2	1,482.5	1,630.5	1,770	1,894.2	2,026.3	2,163.8	2,304.2	2,401	2,491.5	2,588.7	2,676.4	2,784.3	2,859.1	3,010.3	3,177.2	3,324.1	3,464.2	3,637.7	3,805.1	4,204.3	4,376.9	4,586.6	4,925.3	5,278.6

Health spending as a share of the U.S. economy

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CMS's own published percent-of-GDP figures (GDP per the Bureau of Economic Analysis). This ratio already nets out inflation and economy growth: it is the share of everything the U.S. produces that goes to health care.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Health spending as a share of the U.S. economy, 1960 to 2024, in % of gross domestic product.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
% of gross domestic product	5	5.2	5.3	5.4	5.6	5.6	5.6	6	6.2	6.4	6.9	7.1	7.2	7.2	7.5	7.9	8.1	8.3	8.2	8.4	8.9	9.2	9.9	10	10	10.1	10.3	10.6	11	11.4	12.1	12.8	13.1	13.3	13.3	13.4	13.3	13.2	13.2	13.2	13.3	14	14.9	15.4	15.5	15.5	15.7	15.9	16.3	17.2	17.2	17.2	17.1	16.9	17.1	17.4	17.7	17.7	17.6	17.7	19.7	18.4	17.6	17.7	18

Health spending per person

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Nominal dollars per U.S. resident, all payers combined - not what an individual pays out of pocket.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Health spending per person, 1960 to 2024, in $ per person, per year.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ per person, per year	146	154	165	178	194	208	227	251	282	315	353	387	430	474	533	603	685	772	859	963	1,099	1,262	1,408	1,537	1,679	1,822	1,937	2,090	2,321	2,560	2,835	3,065	3,284	3,486	3,641	3,807	3,966	4,141	4,335	4,559	4,842	5,209	5,678	6,112	6,481	6,871	7,266	7,662	7,907	8,132	8,377	8,590	8,860	9,024	9,421	9,860	10,229	10,582	11,042	11,487	12,637	13,137	13,689	14,580	15,474

Share of health spending financed by government

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CMS's sponsor analysis: the share of national health spending financed by federal plus state and local government - tax-funded programs and governments' own contributions as employers. 2024: 47.6% (federal 31.3, state and local 16.3), up from 32.0% in 1987.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, Table 5 (expenditures by type of sponsor), 1987-2024. CMS publishes the sponsor analysis from 1987 only. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Share of health spending financed by government, 1987 to 2024, in % of national health expenditures.
Year	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
% of national health expenditures	32	31.1	31.5	32.7	34.1	35.5	36.9	37.7	37.6	37.6	37.5	36.1	35.8	35.7	37.5	38.4	38.8	39.5	39.6	40.3	40.5	41.5	43.7	44.7	44.6	43.9	44.2	45.2	45.8	45.7	45.3	45.2	45.3	50.5	48.9	48	47.4	47.6

Where it goes

The largest categories inside the total, plus the line CMS publishes for what private insurance costs beyond the care it pays for. All are spending, not profit: no national account splits any of these into cost and margin.

Hospital care spending

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All spending on hospital care from all payers, nominal dollars. Spending, not profit: no public accounting splits national hospital spending into cost and margin.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Hospital care spending, 1960 to 2024, in $ billions.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ billions	9	9.8	10.4	11.5	12.5	13.5	15.3	17.8	20.5	23.4	27.2	30.2	33.8	37.9	44.1	51.2	59.4	67	75.6	86.2	100.5	117.5	133.6	144.7	154.4	164.6	175.8	189.7	206.5	226	250.4	275.8	298.5	315.7	328.4	339.3	350.8	363.4	374.9	393.6	415.5	449.4	486.5	525.9	565.3	608.6	651.2	691.9	721.6	771	808.8	833.2	878	906.8	940.5	989	1,035.4	1,077.6	1,120.6	1,189.3	1,259.5	1,319.1	1,357.5	1,501.1	1,634.7

Physician and clinical services spending

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All spending on physician and clinical services from all payers, nominal dollars.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Physician and clinical services spending, 1960 to 2024, in $ billions.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ billions	5.6	5.8	6.3	7.1	8.1	8.6	9.3	10.4	11.3	12.7	14.3	15.9	17.7	19.6	22.2	25.3	28.7	33.1	35.8	41.2	47.7	55.6	61.6	68.6	77.4	90.9	100.7	112.9	128.6	143.3	158.9	176.5	191.2	202.7	212.1	222.1	230.6	241.4	256.2	269.1	287.7	312.1	336.9	363.4	383.6	408.6	431.6	455.7	479.6	495.5	510.1	533.3	554.4	565.4	595.3	634.2	673.2	706.1	741.3	781.7	837.2	904.8	956.5	1,026.9	1,109.7

Retail prescription drug spending

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RETAIL prescription drugs only - drugs bought through pharmacies. Drugs administered in hospitals and clinics are counted inside those categories instead, so total drug spending is larger than this line.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Retail prescription drug spending, 1960 to 2024, in $ billions.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ billions	2.7	2.7	3	3.2	3.3	3.7	4	4.2	4.7	5.1	5.5	5.9	6.3	6.8	7.4	8.1	8.7	9.2	9.9	10.7	12	13.4	15	17.3	19.6	21.8	24.3	26.9	30.6	34.8	40.3	44.4	47	49.6	53	59.8	68.1	77.6	88.5	105.3	122	140.6	159.8	179.7	195.6	208.6	228.1	239.3	244.3	254.3	253.4	256.4	257.1	259.5	290.9	312.5	313.8	316.2	321.3	333.8	345.5	365.9	390.6	432.9	467

Durable medical equipment spending (retail)

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Retail purchases of durable medical equipment (wheelchairs, oxygen equipment, and similar). This is the closest honest public number to "medical devices" - it is NOT the medical device industry: most device spending (implants, imaging machines, surgical equipment) is embedded in hospital and physician spending and is not separately published in any national account.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Durable medical equipment spending (retail), 1960 to 2024, in $ billions.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ billions	0.7	0.8	0.9	0.9	1	1.1	1.2	1.1	1.3	1.5	1.7	1.8	2	2.2	2.5	2.8	3	3.2	3.4	3.8	4.1	4.3	4.6	5.2	6.1	7.1	8.1	9.5	11.1	11.9	13.8	13.1	13.5	14.1	15.3	15.9	17.4	19.2	21.3	22.2	26	25.4	29.6	30.7	33.2	36.2	39.6	43.3	42.6	41.4	40	40.6	43.3	44.7	46.4	48.8	50.5	52.5	56.2	60	60.2	71.9	77.4	81.9	86.4

What health insurance costs beyond the care it pays for

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CMS's "non-medical insurance expenditures" (formerly "net cost of health insurance"): premiums earned minus benefits paid, for private health insurance including private plans run inside Medicare and Medicaid. It contains administration, premium taxes, additions to reserves, and profits or losses - CMS does not split those apart.

Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts, historical tables, 1960-2024 (Office of the Actuary). Nominal dollars. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

What health insurance costs beyond the care it pays for, 1960 to 2024, in $ billions.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
$ billions	1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.4	1.6	1.7	1.7	2	1.8	1.9	2.4	3.4	3.7	3.2	3.4	4.8	7.4	8.7	9.4	9.1	10.8	12.9	14.7	19.2	20.4	17.4	15.7	20.6	27.1	31.1	31.3	33.8	42.5	44.5	45.4	48.3	48.3	49.7	54.4	63.1	69.8	89.1	106.3	113	121.4	135.6	142.3	137.7	135.9	150.8	156.3	162.4	169.2	192.2	203.2	214.3	222.7	256.4	244.6	307.1	272.3	294.1	313.4	306

Prices

The Bureau of Labor Statistics prices a fixed basket of everything consumers buy, and separately a medical basket, on the same index base. Printed one after the other so the slopes can be compared by eye and by number.

Consumer prices, everything (CPI-U all items)

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BLS annual-average index. A value of 321.9 means overall consumer prices are 3.2 times their 1982-84 average. Compare the slope of this line with the medical care line.

Source: BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, annual averages, 1960-2025. Index 1982-84=100. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Consumer prices, everything (CPI-U all items), 1960 to 2025, in index, 1982-84 = 100.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
index, 1982-84 = 100	29.6	29.9	30.2	30.6	31	31.5	32.4	33.4	34.8	36.7	38.8	40.5	41.8	44.4	49.3	53.8	56.9	60.6	65.2	72.6	82.4	90.9	96.5	99.6	103.9	107.6	109.6	113.6	118.3	124	130.7	136.2	140.3	144.5	148.2	152.4	156.9	160.5	163	166.6	172.2	177.1	179.9	184	188.9	195.3	201.6	207.342	215.303	214.537	218.056	224.939	229.594	232.957	236.736	237.017	240.007	245.12	251.107	255.657	258.811	270.97	292.655	304.702	313.689	321.943

Consumer prices, medical care (CPI medical care)

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BLS annual-average medical care index, same base as the all-items line: by 2025 medical prices stood at 5.8 times their 1982-84 average against 3.2 times for everything. Measures consumer out-of-pocket and insurance prices; BLS itself notes it does not capture what employers or government pay.

Source: BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), U.S. city average, not seasonally adjusted, annual averages, 1960-2025. Index 1982-84=100. · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Consumer prices, medical care (CPI medical care), 1960 to 2025, in index, 1982-84 = 100.
Year	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
index, 1982-84 = 100	22.3	22.9	23.5	24.1	24.6	25.2	26.3	28.2	29.9	31.9	34	36.1	37.3	38.8	42.4	47.5	52	57	61.8	67.5	74.9	82.9	92.5	100.6	106.8	113.5	122	130.1	138.6	149.3	162.8	177	190.1	201.4	211	220.5	228.2	234.6	242.1	250.6	260.8	272.8	285.6	297.1	310.1	323.2	336.2	351.054	364.065	375.613	388.436	400.258	414.924	425.134	435.292	446.752	463.675	475.322	484.707	498.413	518.876	525.276	546.554	549.084	563.841	580.102

Named-basket profits

Two sums of audited GAAP net income over fixed, named baskets of SEC filers. The names are in each source line. These are floors on those specific companies, not industry totals; the section after this one says why no industry total exists.

Combined profit of seven big insurers and pharmacy-benefit conglomerates

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The sum of GAAP net income reported in SEC filings by UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, The Cigna Group, Elevance Health, Humana, Centene and Molina Healthcare - a FIXED, NAMED basket, not an industry total. Company composition changes inside the window (CVS absorbed Aetna and Cigna absorbed Express Scripts in 2018). One-time charges and gains swing single years; read the level, not one year's move.

Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (10-K filings): combined GAAP net income of seven named companies - UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health, The Cigna Group, Elevance Health, Humana, Centene and Molina Healthcare - 2016-2025. This is exactly that basket, not "the insurance industry". · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Combined profit of seven big insurers and pharmacy-benefit conglomerates, 2016 to 2025, in $ billions, GAAP net income.
Year	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
$ billions, GAAP net income	17.9	26.02	21.07	35.15	41.46	41.75	41.83	48.16	34.12	20.43

Combined profit of eight big pharmaceutical companies

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The sum of GAAP net income reported in SEC filings by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen and Gilead Sciences - a FIXED, NAMED basket, not an industry total, and U.S.-listed global companies whose profits are worldwide, not U.S.-only. Acquisition charges and one-time items swing single years (for example Pfizer 2023, Merck 2023, Bristol-Myers Squibb 2020 and 2024); read the level, not one year's move.

Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (10-K filings): combined GAAP net income of eight named companies - Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AbbVie, Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Amgen and Gilead Sciences - 2016-2025. This is exactly that basket, not "the pharmaceutical industry". · retrieved 2026-09-02 · methodology

Combined profit of eight big pharmaceutical companies, 2016 to 2025, in $ billions, GAAP net income.
Year	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
$ billions, GAAP net income	62.05	37.72	60.36	73.86	40.12	91.44	99.38	68.15	49.7	100.97

What is not here, and why

The API this page mirrors refuses to serve some numbers people expect to find, and says why. The refusals are part of the dataset and are reproduced in full.

Pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) revenues and profits. No public national PBM revenue or profit series exists. The three largest PBMs - CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx, which the FTC's 2024 interim staff report puts at roughly 80% of prescriptions - sit inside CVS Health, The Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group, and their parents' segment reporting mixes them with mail pharmacies and other units and is not comparable across the three. Serving a number labelled "PBM profits" from that reporting would be manufacturing a statistic.
Industry-wide profit totals (hospitals, insurers, pharma, device makers). The National Health Expenditure Accounts measure SPENDING, not profit, and no U.S. statistical agency publishes an annual profit total for any health-care sector. The two basket series above are sums over named public companies only - private companies, nonprofits and everyone outside the basket are absent, so they are floors on the named companies, not sector totals.
Medical device industry revenue. No public national account isolates medical device spending. The durable medical equipment line covers retail purchases only; devices used in hospitals and surgeries are inside the hospital and physician lines. Industry revenue figures in circulation are commercial market-research estimates with unpublished methods, which this page does not serve.

The same money, from other angles

These series are totals and sums over time. The company-level view of the same money, with every figure cited to an SEC accession number, is on two companion pages: who profits from US health care breaks the two profit baskets above into their named constituents, year by year, and how pharma makes and spends money shows what the eight drug makers earn and spend line by line. The middlemen the absences section says cannot be measured are described in what is a PBM, and the rest of the money trail is the follow-the-money shelf.

Method, in full

This page renders a pinned snapshot of https://avalo-server-prod.herokuapp.com/api/explorer/money, taken 2026-09-07, the same payload the veisund app explorer renders. The API serves each series as a pinned, hand-checked snapshot of its named source rather than proxying the source agencies live; the retrieval date printed under each chart is the date the values were taken from that source. Sources are the CMS National Health Expenditure Accounts historical tables (Office of the Actuary) for the spending series, the BLS Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the two price series, and SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts from 10-K filings for the two profit baskets; each chart links its source's methodology page. Titles, units, caveats, source lines and the absences list are reproduced verbatim from the payload. Nothing is edited, estimated, deflated, interpolated or extrapolated here, and the page draws no conclusions the sources do not state.