David M. Cutler

Stories

U.S. health care spending growth hits its slowest stretch since tracking began in 1960

As of May 2026: Lead author of the Brookings paper

For decades, American health care spending grew faster than the economy. Government actuaries projected in 2010 that it would hit 21.2 percent of GDP by 2024 (about $6.3 trillion), but actual spending came in at 18%, roughly $977 billion less.

Updated May 31

Notable Quotes

"The slowdown in medical spending growth is not only large substantively, it is unprecedented historically—since the advent of systematic data on medical spending in 1960, no 14-year period has seen as slow growth of medical spending relative to GDP as was realized over the 2010-24 time period."

from U.S. health care spending growth hits its slowest stretch since tracking began in 1960 · Updated May 31