Public sources are financing a growing share of all health care spending: Health care spending as a share of GDP, by source of payments, 1960–2016

Year Other Out-of-pocket Private insurance Public
1960 0.7% 2.4% 1.1% 0.3%
1961 0.8% 2.4% 1.1% 0.3%
1962 0.8% 2.4% 1.2% 0.3%
1963 0.8% 2.4% 1.2% 0.3%
1964 0.8% 2.5% 1.3% 0.3%
1965 0.9% 2.4% 1.4% 0.3%
1966 0.8% 2.3% 1.3% 0.8%
1967 0.7% 2.2% 1.2% 1.6%
1968 0.7% 2.2% 1.3% 1.7%
1969 0.8% 2.2% 1.3% 1.8%
1970 0.8% 2.3% 1.4% 2.0%
1971 0.8% 2.3% 1.5% 2.2%
1972 0.8% 2.2% 1.6% 2.4%
1973 0.8% 2.2% 1.6% 2.4%
1974 0.8% 2.2% 1.7% 2.6%
1975 0.9% 2.2% 1.8% 2.9%
1976 0.9% 2.2% 2.0% 3.0%
1977 0.9% 2.2% 2.2% 3.1%
1978 0.9% 2.0% 2.2% 3.1%
1979 0.9% 2.0% 2.3% 3.2%
1980 1.0% 2.0% 2.4% 3.5%
1981 1.0% 2.0% 2.5% 3.6%
1982 1.1% 2.2% 2.8% 3.8%
1983 1.1% 2.2% 2.9% 3.9%
1984 1.0% 2.1% 2.9% 3.9%
1985 1.1% 2.2% 3.0% 3.9%
1986 1.2% 2.3% 3.0% 4.0%
1987 1.2% 2.3% 3.1% 4.1%
1988 1.3% 2.3% 3.3% 4.1%
1989 1.2% 2.2% 3.6% 4.3%
1990 1.3% 2.3% 3.9% 4.7%
1991 1.3% 2.3% 4.1% 5.4%
1992 1.3% 2.2% 4.2% 5.8%
1993 1.4% 2.1% 4.3% 6.1%
1994 1.3% 1.9% 4.2% 6.3%
1995 1.3% 1.9% 4.2% 6.5%
1996 1.3% 1.9% 4.2% 6.6%
1997 1.3% 1.9% 4.2% 6.5%
1998 1.3% 1.9% 4.2% 6.3%
1999 1.3% 1.9% 4.3% 6.4%
2000 1.2% 1.9% 4.5% 6.5%
2001 1.2% 1.9% 4.7% 7.0%
2002 1.3% 2.0% 5.1% 7.4%
2003 1.3% 2.0% 5.3% 7.7%
2004 1.3% 2.0% 5.4% 7.8%
2005 1.3% 2.0% 5.4% 7.9%
2006 1.3% 2.0% 5.3% 7.9%
2007 1.3% 2.0% 5.4% 8.1%
2008 1.3% 2.0% 5.5% 8.5%
2009 1.3% 2.0% 5.8% 9.4%
2010 1.4% 2.0% 5.8% 9.5%
2011 1.3% 2.0% 5.8% 9.5%
2012 1.4% 2.0% 5.7% 9.5%
2013 1.4% 1.9% 5.7% 9.6%
2014 1.4% 1.9% 5.7% 10.0%
2015 1.3% 1.9% 5.9% 10.3%
2016 1.4% 1.9% 6.0% 10.4%

Notes: Public spending includes what the federal and state governments spend in Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and Departments of Defense and Veterans’ Affairs payments; private insurance spending is what insurers of both employer-sponsored and individually purchased plans spend; and out-of-pocket spending is what households spend on health care and includes households with and without insurance. Total spending minus these sources produces the “Other” spending category.

Source: Data from CMS 2018

View the underlying data on epi.org.