Hi, it’s John in New York, where December brings an annual rite for health policy wonks: Tallying America’s ever-growing bill for medical care. More on that below, but first…
The number gets bigger each year. Each December, a group of economists and actuaries in an obscure federal office emerge with a new report estimating how much the US spent on health-care the year before. The most recent report, covering 2021, put the tab at $4.3 trillion, or about $13,000 for every American.