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. 1998 Fall;20(1):83–126.

Figure 1. Growth in National Health Expenditures (NHE) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Calendar Years 1961-97.

Figure 1

1997 NHE show slowest growth ever recorded in the series.

  • NHE reached $1.1 trillion in 1997. The 4.8-percent increase in 1997 marks the slowest growth in NHE history and continues a trend of deceleration that began in 1991. Over the past 3 years, growth has remained below 5 percent, in sharp contrast to the double-digit growth last seen in 1990. This decelerating growth trend has been fueled by changes in the health care industry, including the shift of employees in employer-sponsored health plans from indemnity plans to lower-average-cost managed care plans, price competition among health plans, and low general and medical inflation.
  • On a per person basis, health spending rose $144, from $3,781 per person in 1996 to $3,925 in 1997.