The Cost of Being Sick Supporting health and medical research is an investment in the economic as well as the physical and mental health of our nation and our families. Being sick costs us more every year. Australian spending on health In the past two decades, national spending on health has grown more than 10-fold, from $10.8 billion to $112.8 billion. According to the ASHW (2010), we spend 86.5 percent of the nation's total recurring economic expenditure on health, made up of hospitals, medical services, medications, dental, community health and other practitioner services. In fact, growth in expenditure on health in Australia has exceeded growth in our gross domestic product (GDP) for almost every year in the past decade. This trend is expected to continue into the future as we face slower economic growth associated with an ageing population, increased demand for age-related services, and general demand for higher quality health services. However, none of this expenditure includes research. Why invest in research? Evidence suggests that investing in health and medical research will return above-average yields, ultimately lowering our expenditure national on health. According to Lateral Economics, "spending on Australian health and medical research should consistently exceed growth in health spending overall."