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United States of America - P4H Network
Current Health Expenditure (CHE) as % Gross Domestic Product (GDP)17.4%CHE/GDP
Out-of-pocket (OOPS) spending as % of Current Health Expenditure (CHE)10.7%OOP/CHE
Domestic General Government Health Expenditure (GGHE-D) as % General Government Expenditure (GGE)21.4%GGHE-D/GGE
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in constant (2020) US$ per capita in millions (M), billions (B) or trillions (T)25.5TGDP (USD)
Population in thousands (K), millions (M) or billions (B)337MPopulation
The United States of America (USA) is a high-income country in the Americas. Its population was 337 million people in 2021 and life expectancy, 77 years in 2022. The USA had a current health expenditure (CHE) of 17.4% of GDP (2021) and domestic general government health expenditure (GGHE-D) as a percentage of general government expenditure of 21.4% (2021), with CHE per capita reaching US$ 12,474 in 2022. Out-of-pocket spending averaged US$ 1,285 per person, or 10.7% of CHE. In 2021, domestic general government health expenditure accounted for 55.4% of CHE while domestic private expenditure accounted for 44.6% of CHE.

Public and private mix

As in many other countries, the health system combines public and private finances and providers. There are three main US government programmes for vulnerable populations: federal and state governments largely fund Medicare (for adults 65 and older and some people with disabilities); Medicaid (for lower income, eligible individuals and families); and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP – providing low-cost health coverage to children in families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid). The original Medicare and Medicaid legislation was passed in 1965 and CHIP, in 1997. A separate but complementary programme exists for military veterans.

The majority of health coverage is provided through employers via private insurance and paid for by employers, employees or a combination of the two. The Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010 and contributed to cutting the uninsured rate by half to 8.5% of the population. 

Rethinking Insurance for an Aging Population
NEWS |

Rethinking Insurance for an Aging Population

United States of America
DOCUMENT |

Affordable Care Act

United States of America
DOCUMENT |

Medicare and Medicaid

United States of America