Health Care Expenses in 2011

Most of us had a health care expense in 2011, with Americans paying a total of $1.3 trillion for medical care (including payments made by private health insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, and out-of-pocket). Here is the percentage of the population with a health care expense in 2011 (and median expense per person with expense) by type of service...

85% any expense ($1,312)
72% doctor visit ($458)
63% prescription drugs ($275)
40% dental visit ($243)
14% hospital outpatient services ($739)
12% emergency room services ($681)
7% hospital inpatient services ($9,869)
2% home health care ($3,396)

Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, National Health Care Expenses in the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2011