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Private insurance spending outpaces Medicare and Medicaid

Cumulative growth in per enrolled person spending by private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid, 2008-2021

On a per enrollee basis, private insurance spending has typically grown much faster than Medicare and Medicaid spending

Source: KFF analysis of National Health Expenditure (NHE) data

Average annual growth rate of spending per enrolled person in private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid

Per enrollee spending varied in 2021 after decades of growth for all major payers

On a per enrollee basis, the average annual growth of Medicare spending was similar to that of private insurance over the course of the 1990s and 2000s. Average annual spending growth per enrollee in Medicaid was similar to growth for Medicare and private insurance in the 1990s but slowed in the 2000s while spending growth accelerated for the other major payers. After a decade of slower growth for all major payers in the 2010s, per enrollee spending increased for Medicare and private insurance and decreased for Medicaid between 2020 and 2021.

Source: KFF analysis of National Health Expenditure (NHE) data

Net cost of health insurance and goverment administration, as a share of total health expenditures, 1970-2021

Health insurance and administrative costs have been increasing for several decades

Source: KFF analysis of National Health Expenditure (NHE) data

Total national health expenditures, US $ Trillions, 1987-2021

Public spending on health nearly matched private spending in 2021

Public and private health spending have both grown substantially in the past few decades. In 1987, public sector spending accounted for just under one third (32%) of total health spending. Public spending in 2021 represented just under half (49%) of overall spending after briefly exceeding private spending the previous year. Public sector spending includes spending on insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other government spending, such as spending on public health and research.

Source: KFF analysis of National Health Expenditure (NHE) data