State Health Spending Trends, 2019-2022

Previous studies on health care spending have shown wide variation in spending across the United States. In this blog, we update information in these previous studies with estimates of state-level per-capita spending in 2022 and spending growth from 2019 through 2022. We have identified large differences in spending across states and somewhat smaller differences in spending growth. These differences can be caused by various state-specific characteristics, including differences in prices, care access and utilization, insurance rates and coverage, age, wealth, and population health. Our preliminary investigation of some of these factors suggests that spending is weakly correlated with age, wealth, and population health. Further research is needed to develop a better understanding of the impact of state-specific characteristics (including their interactions) on spending levels and growth.  

Read the full blog here.