Burden of Health Care Costs: Businesses, Households, and Governments, 1987-2000

In this article, we estimate expenditures by businesses, households, and governments in providing financing for health care for 1987-2000 and track measures of burden that these costs impose. Although burden measures for businesses and the Federal Government have stabilized or improved since 1993, measures of burden for State and local governments are deteriorating slightly—a situation that is likely to worsen in the near future. As health care spending accelerates and an economywide recession seems imminent, businesses, households, and governments that finance health care will face renewed health cost pressures on their revenue and income.