title: Public Health's Falling Share of US Health Spending.
abstract: We examined trends in US public health expenditures by analyzing historical and projected National Health Expenditure Accounts data. Per-capita public health spending (inflation-adjusted) rose from $39 in 1960 to $281 in 2008, and has fallen by 9.3% since then. Public health's share of total health expenditures rose from 1.36% in 1960 to 3.18% in 2002, then fell to 2.65% in 2014; it is projected to fall to 2.40% in 2023. Public health spending has declined, potentially undermining prevention and weakening responses to health inequalities and new health threats.
authors.affiliation: The authors are with the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, New York, NY.
authors.forename: David U
authors.initials: DU
authors.lastname: Himmelstein
authors.affiliation: The authors are with the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Steffie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Woolhandler
mesh_terms: D016208:Databases, Factual; D005380:Financing, Government / Q000639:trends; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D011634:Public Health / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States