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The graph shows health care spending as a percent of GDP using three measures.



The first BEA measure, by major type of product, is of health care services as percent of GDP.



The larger BEA measure, by major function, includes health goods and services as a percent of GDP.



The Department of Health and Human Services includes investment in equipment and structures and is the broadest measure of health care spending. See here for a description of the HHS estimates:

These statistics, termed National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA), are compiled with the goal of measuring the total amount spent in the United States to purchase health care goods and services during the year. The amount invested in medical sector structures and equipment and in non-commercial research in the United States, to procure health services in the future, is also included.



The NHEA are generally compatible with the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), but bring a more complete picture of the health care sector of the nation’s economy together in one set of statistics.

First, the category of “personal consumption expenditures” includes pretty much all of the $2.5 trillion healthcare spending, including the roughly half which comes via government.