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First, since 1960, health care costs have grown 2.7 percentage points faster per year than the economy as a whole. This growth in overall health care costs is particularly problematic for the Federal Government because it is the Nation’s largest purchaser of health care, accounting for approximately one-third of all health care spending in the country.

The Government provides health care to seniors and low-income individuals through its two largest health care programs, Medicare and Medicaid, and to veterans, active duty military, and civilian personnel through a number of other programs.

In 1966, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for only 1 percent of all Government expenditures, but now they account for 20 percent.

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Excerpted and adapted from: Cost of Entitlement Programs Driven by Skyrocketing Health Care Costs, Aging Population (no longer on internet; access this document through BIO 302 URLs, Week#12)