STAT+: U.S. health spending rose sharply in 2025, thanks to GLP-1 use and more care
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- U.S. health care spending reached $5.7 trillion in 2025, a 7.3% increase over 2024, according to government figures published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs
- Per-capita health spending hit nearly $16,500, reflecting the combination of rising utilization and the country's already-high baseline prices
- Weight loss drugs (GLP-1s) have become their own distinct spending category, pushing budgets across the country to their limits
- Americans are visiting doctors, undergoing hospital procedures, and filling prescriptions more frequently than economists and budget experts had projected
- The spending surge is again surfacing widespread public discontent with how unaffordable U.S. health care has become
Why it matters: Health care now consumes $5.7 trillion — roughly $16,500 per American — and is growing 7.3% year-over-year, with GLP-1 demand acting as a structural accelerant. Employers, insurers, and federal budgets are absorbing a cost trajectory that is being driven by patient utilization, not just price inflation, making it harder to contain.
Ask SkimNews
