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Washington Report
Report from the Washington office
PROFILE OF HEALTH SPENDING,
1950-1964
The average American in 1964 spent $191.32 on his health; $12.32 of this was for dental services. By compari son, the average American of 1950 spent only $84.49 on his health, of which $6.40 went to dentistry. In each instance, dental spending was about 7 per cent of the total. These are some of the highlight figures from a recent study done by the Social Security Administration regarding national health expendi tures in the 15-year period, 1950 to 1964. Unlike the periodic studies re leased by the Department of Commerce, this survey includes both public and private funds. National health expenditures in 1964 totaled $36.8 billion, which is nearly 6 per cent of the gross nation al product. About 90 per cent of that total was used to purchase immediately needed health services or supplies. The remaining $3.3 billion was spent for health research and construction of hospitals or related facilities. There has been a great increase in health research expenditures, from $117 million in 1950 to $1.3 billion in 1964, with almost all the growth being in the public sector. Private sources accounted for about 75 per cent of this $36.8 billion that was spent in 1964, the rest being sup plied by public funds. A notable shift took place during this span of years in method of payment. In 1950, better than two thirds of the private sector expenditures were direct out-
of-pocket payment by the consumer. By 1964, third-party agents--such as in surance companies— were making nearly one half of these payments. In 1950, of course, third-party pay ments in dentistry were nonexistent. By 1964, the effect of dental insurance and dental service corporations was discernible, though it amounted to less than 1 per cent of total dental ex penditures . In 1964, expenditures for the serv ices of dentists in private practice totaled $2.4 billion, about one third of the amount spent for physicians' services. This ratio of expenditures between dentists' services and physi cians' services has remained substan tially constant since 1950, when ex penditures for dentists' services to taled $975 million. Almost all the expenditures for the services of dentists were from the private sector, government funds being a very small proportion of the whole. The distribution of the health dollar has undergone some substantial changes since 1950, as the following tables show: (The category, "other services," in the charts includes ex penditures for nurses, podiatrists, chiropractors, clinical psychologists, and visiting nurse associations.)
DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC FUNDS 1964 1950 51.1% Hospital care 48.8% 7.5 Construction 15.3 Nursing home care 0.8 4.3 12. 3 Research 2.3 0.6 1.7 Drugs, appliances 5.9 4.8 Private practice 27 .4 17.2 Other services DISTRIBUTION OF PRIVATE 1950 22.6% Hospital care Construction 3.2 1.2 Nursing home care 0.4 Research Drugs, appliances 23.7 42.6 Private practice Other Services 6.3
FUNDS 1964 28.8% 4.7 3.0 0.6 19.8 36.7 6.4
PROFILE OF HEALTH SPENDING,
1950-1964
The average American in 1964 spent $191.32 on his health; $12.32 of this was for dental services. By compari son, the average American of 1950 spent only $84.49 on his health, of which $6.40 went to dentistry. In each instance, dental spending was about 7 per cent of the total. These are some of the highlight figures from a recent study done by the Social Security Administration regarding national health expendi tures in the 15-year period, 1950 to 1964. Unlike the periodic studies re leased by the Department of Commerce, this survey includes both public and private funds. National health expenditures in 1964 totaled $36.8 billion, which is nearly 6 per cent of the gross nation al product. About 90 per cent of that total was used to purchase immediately needed health services or supplies. The remaining $3.3 billion was spent for health research and construction of hospitals or related facilities. There has been a great increase in health research expenditures, from $117 million in 1950 to $1.3 billion in 1964, with almost all the growth being in the public sector. Private sources accounted for about 75 per cent of this $36.8 billion that was spent in 1964, the rest being sup plied by public funds. A notable shift took place during this span of years in method of payment. In 1950, better than two thirds of the private sector expenditures were direct out-
of-pocket payment by the consumer. By 1964, third-party agents--such as in surance companies— were making nearly one half of these payments. In 1950, of course, third-party pay ments in dentistry were nonexistent. By 1964, the effect of dental insurance and dental service corporations was discernible, though it amounted to less than 1 per cent of total dental ex penditures . In 1964, expenditures for the serv ices of dentists in private practice totaled $2.4 billion, about one third of the amount spent for physicians' services. This ratio of expenditures between dentists' services and physi cians' services has remained substan tially constant since 1950, when ex penditures for dentists' services to taled $975 million. Almost all the expenditures for the services of dentists were from the private sector, government funds being a very small proportion of the whole. The distribution of the health dollar has undergone some substantial changes since 1950, as the following tables show: (The category, "other services," in the charts includes ex penditures for nurses, podiatrists, chiropractors, clinical psychologists, and visiting nurse associations.)
DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC FUNDS 1964 1950 51.1% Hospital care 48.8% 7.5 Construction 15.3 Nursing home care 0.8 4.3 12. 3 Research 2.3 0.6 1.7 Drugs, appliances 5.9 4.8 Private practice 27 .4 17.2 Other services DISTRIBUTION OF PRIVATE 1950 22.6% Hospital care Construction 3.2 1.2 Nursing home care 0.4 Research Drugs, appliances 23.7 42.6 Private practice Other Services 6.3
FUNDS 1964 28.8% 4.7 3.0 0.6 19.8 36.7 6.4