HKS Affiliated Authors

Excerpt

Health Care Spending — A Giant Slain or Sleeping? David Cutler, December 26, 2013, Paper. "The health care system is confronting a shocking surprise: slow growth in cost. According to the U.S. government actuaries, real spending for health care increased a scant 0.8% per person in 2012, slightly less than the real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. In contrast, since 1960, spending has increased an average of 2.3 percentage points more than GDP growth (Fig. 1). The yearly gap between increases in health spending and GDP growth explains why national health expenditures jumped from 5% of the GDP..." Link verified August 21, 2014