Health Care

To better measure spending trends and treatment prices, BEA developed a set of supplemental statistics called the Health Care Satellite Account. These statistics give policymakers, researchers and the public another way of understanding the economics of health care.

The satellite account measures U.S. health care spending by the diseases being treated (for example, cancer or diabetes) instead of by the types of goods and services purchased (such as doctor's office visits or drugs). At the same time, BEA continues to produce the traditional goods-and-services health care estimates that are part of its core statistics, such as gross domestic product. Read more.

Update

Data for 2020 are now available. Note that the disease classification system used in these statistics has changed, affecting comparability with years prior to 2015. See cautionary notes in the MEPS and Blended Account tables for more details.

Data

Blended Account, 2000-2020 XLSX | February 10, 2023
- More detailed blended data XLSX | February 10, 2023
MEPS Account 2000-2020 XLSX | February 10, 2023
View archived data and related materials...

Satellite Account Publications

BEA Blog: New Health Care Statistics for First Year of COVID-19 Pandemic February 10, 2023
BEA Blog: BEA Releases for the First Time Detailed Data on More than 200 Medical Conditions June 4, 2018
High Spending Growth Rates For Key Diseases In 2000–14 Were Driven By Technology And Demographic Factors June 4, 2018
- Working Paper PDF | Health Affairs
Introducing the New Health Care Satellite Account PDF
Health Care Spending Slowdown From 2000 To 2010 Was Driven By Lower Growth In Cost Per Case, According To A New Data Source

Research Publications and Working Papers

National Accounting - Methodology and Application

A Reconciliation of Health Care Expenditures in the National Health Expenditures Accounts and in Gross Domestic Product PDF Robert Kornfeld , Micah Hartman, Nathan A. Espinosa, Regina L. Butler, and Aaron Catlin - Bureau of Economic Analysis Working Paper (WP2020-8)
Introducing the New Health Care Satellite Account PDF Abe Dunn, Lindsey Rittmueller and Bryn Whitmire - Survey of Current Business, January 2015
Recent Research on Disease-Based Price Indexes: Where Do We Stand? PDF Ana Aizcorbe - Survey of Current Business, July 2013
Household Consumption Expenditures for Medical Care: An Alternate Presentation PDF Ana Aizcorbe, Eli B. Liebman, David M. Cutler, and Allison B. Rosen - Survey of Current Business, June 2012
A Reconciliation of Health Care Expenditures in the National Health Expenditure Accounts and in Gross Domestic Product PDF Caitlin (CMS), Hartman (CMS), Kornfeld (BEA) - Survey of Current Business, September 2010
Toward a Health Care Satellite Account PDF Ana Aizcorbe, Bonnie Retus, and Shelly Smith - Survey of Current Business, May 2008

Measurement - Price and Utilization Growth

Prices and Utilization - Regional Differences

Physician Competition and the Provision of Care: Evidence from Heart Attacks PDF Abe Dunn and Adam Shapiro, American Journal of Health Economics, Spring 2018
Health Insurance and the Demand for Medical Care: Instrumental Variable Estimates Using Health Insurer Claims Data PDF Abe Dunn - Journal of Health Economics, July 2016
Geographic Variation in Commercial Medical-Care Expenditures: A Framework for Decomposing Price and Utilization PDF Abe Dunn, Adam Shapiro, and Eli B. Liebman - Journal of Health Economics, (2013), 32(6) pgs 1153- 1165. Technical Appendix
Physician Market Power and Medical-Care Expenditures PDF | Article Summary PDF] Abe Dunn and Adam Shapiro - BEA Working Paper (WP2012-06)

Data and Methods

Industry Accounts

Disease-Based Health Care Measures and the Industry Economic Accounts PDF Patricia A. Washington, Daniel W. Jackson, and David B. Wasshausen, Survey of Current Business, November 18, 2015
Measuring Productivity for the US Health Sector PDF Ana Aizcorbe, Gabriel Medeiros and Erich Strassner – Presented at Canadian Economic Association annual meetings in Montreal, Canada, May 26, 2013
Appendix C: Adapting BEA's National and Industry Accounts for a Health Care Satellite Account PDF Brent R. Moulton, Brian C. Moyer and Ana Aizcorbe – Strategies for a BEA Satellite Health Care Account: Summary of a Workshop, March 2008

BLS Experimental Index

Experimental Disease-Based Price Indexes

About the Health Care Satellite Account

Within the satellite account, there are two different sets of disease-based statistics. One version uses data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the only nationally representative survey that contains detailed expenditure information by disease. BEA calls this the "MEPS Account." Because of its relatively small sample size, the MEPS Account produces more volatile estimates across years. To address this issue, we also produce the "Blended Account," which blends together data from multiple sources, including large claims databases that cover millions of enrollees and billions of claims.

Looking at spending by disease is a first step toward BEA's goal of developing an account that allows better assessment of value in health care spending. BEA continues to conduct research to expand and improve its health statistics.

What is the Health Care Satellite Account?

Measures U.S. health care spending to treat diseases – like cancer or diabetes, rather than by place of service, like a hospital or doctor's office, offering a new way of analyzing the health care sector.

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What's a Satellite Account?