Table 8. Factors accounting for growth in selected categories of national health expenditures: 1972-19821.
| Factors accounting for how medical care expenditures rise | Total personal health care | Other professional services | Drugs and medical sundries | Eyeglasses and appliances | Other health services | Public health activities | State-and local-financed Government public health activities | Medical research | Federally financed medical research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||||
| Percent | |||||||||
| Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Economy-wide factors | |||||||||
| General inflation | 57.7 | 53.3 | 83.6 | 79.4 | 68.8 | 50.0 | 37.0 | 79.8 | 75.0 |
| Aggregate population growth | 7.7 | 7.2 | 11.2 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 6.7 | 5.0 | 10.7 | 10.1 |
| Health sector-specific factors | |||||||||
| Growth in per capita visits or patient days | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Growth in real services per visit or per day (intensity) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Medical care price increases relative to general price inflation | 9.5 | 0.3 | −6.7 | −19.4 | 16.7 | −1.0 | −0.2 | 3.0 | 2.8 |
| Addenda: Growth in real services per capita | 25.1 | 39.3 | 11.9 | 29.3 | 5.3 | 44.3 | 58.2 | 6.5 | 12.1 |
1
See Table K for method used to calculate relative contributions.
SOURCE: Bureau of Data Management and Strategy, Health Care Financing Administration.