A detailed recent report from the AMA provides a revealing window into U.S. health care spending trends before the pandemic’s onset and offers a preliminary glimpse at COVID-19’s impact throughout 2020.

Drawing on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the AMA Policy Research Perspective, “National Health Expenditures, 2019: Steady Spending Growth Despite Increases in Personal Health Care Expenditures in Advance of the Pandemic,” shows that health spending in 2019 accounted for 17.7% of U.S. gross domestic product. Health care spending increased by 4.6% in 2019 to $3.8 trillion—$11,582 for each person.

My latest for the AMA. The whole shebang.