Notable Numbers
- $2.5 trillion: total amount spent on U.S. health care in 2009. That's $8,047 per person and 17.3 percent of the entire economy.1
- $1,666: average cost of a single day in the hospital.2
- 17%: percentage of employers that offered health benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees in 2009.3 Percentage that offered such benefits in 1997: 28%. Percentage that offered such benefits in 1993: 40%.4
- 66%: percentage of traditional plan participants who were extremely or very satisfied with their plan. Percentage of high-deductible health plan enrollees who were extremely or very satisfied: 40%.5
- $13,700: average cost of family coverage for a worker in a minimum wage position. That worker's average annual salary: $14,500.6
- 50%: percentage of U.S. doctors who say they spend substantial time dealing with restrictions insurance companies place on their patients' care.7
- 46%: percentage of U.S. doctors who use electronic medical records. Percentage of doctors in the Netherlands who do: 99%. 8
- 1st: rank of Vermont in terms of health care quality among U.S. states. 50th: Oklahoma's rank among the U.S. states.9 (To view quality results for your state, use The Commonwealth Fund's interactive State Scorecard).
- 3rd: rank of "preventable medical errors" on the list of leading causes of death in the U.S.10 Number of deaths annually attributable to medical errors: nearly 200,000.
- 20%: percentage of Americans who smoke.11 Percentage who smoked in 1944: 41%.12
- 34%: percentage of obese Americans today.13 Percentage who were obese in the 1970s: about 16%.14
1 C. J. Truffer, S. Keehan, S. Smith et al., "Health Spending Projections Through 2019: The Recession's Impact Continues," Health Affairs Web First, February 4, 2010: 467–77.
2 S. Brownlee, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer (New York: Bloomsbury USA, Sept. 2007).
3 P. Fronstin, "2010 EBRI Trends in Retiree Health Benefits Offered by Employers" (Washington, D.C: Employee Benefits Research Institute, July 2010).
4 P. Fronstin and V. Reno, "Recent Trends in Retiree Health Benefits and the Role of COBRA Coverage" (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Social Insurance, June 2001).
5 2009 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey (Washington, D.C: Employee Benefits Research Institute. December 2009).
6 S. Blakely, Employers, Workers, and the Future of Employment-Based Health Benefits (Washington, D.C: Employee Benefit Research Institute, Feb. 2010).
7 C. Schoen, R. Osborn, M. M. Doty et al., "A Survey of Primary Care Physicians in 11 Countries, 2009: Perspectives on Care, Costs, and Experiences," Health Affairs Web Exclusive, Nov. 5, 2009, w1171–w1183.
8 Ibid.
9 The Commonwealth Fund, State Data Center, http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Maps-and-Data/State-Scorecard-2009.aspx.
10 HealthGrades Quality Study: Patient Safety in American Hospitals. July 2004.
11 B. Hendrick, "Smoking Rate Is Declining in U.S.," WebMD Health News, Nov. 13, 2008, http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/news/20081113/smoking-rate-is-declining-in-us.
12 J. Jones, "Majority Disapproves of New Law Regulating Tobacco," June 26, 2009, http://www.gallup.com/poll/121079/majority-disapproves-new-law-regulating-tobacco.aspx.
13 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FastStats: Obesity and Overweight, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm.
14 S. G. Leveille, C. C. Wee, and L. I. Iezzoni, "Trends in Obesity and Arthritis Among Baby Boomers and Their Predecessors, 1971–2002," American Journal of Public Health, Sept. 2005 95(9): 1607–13.
