The U.S. has the highest absolute medical expenditures and highest per capita medical expenditures of any nation. The rate of medical expenditure growth has accelerated in the last two decades. Figure 1 shows the extraordinary growth of American medical expenditures from 1929 to the present. Although such a prediction could never come true, the current trend indicates the urgency of the high medical expenditure situation in the United States.
Numerous reasons exist for the faster growth of prices for medical services.
Health Care Financing Administration. Price increases, however, are only part of the problem. Both are extremely difficult to control. Hence, trying to control medical prices while expanding health insurance coverage, as is currently being attempted by the U.S. government, may increase access to care, but total direct expenditures are still likely to rise dramatically. Direct payments for medical care are only part of the problem.