Direct Spending on Healthcare
The typical non-elderly single person in better health with individual market or exchange coverage spends $5,450 per year (16% of their $35,010 income) on health. This includes $2,250 (6% of their income) in out-of-pocket health spending, $1,700 (5% of their income) in health insurance premiums, and approximately $1,500 (4% of their income) in state and federal taxes that fund health programs.
Note: Percentages for each health spending category may not add up to the total share of income spent on healthcare due to rounding.
Additional Contributions by Employers
In this scenario, we estimate that the employer is contributing an additional $500 in Medicare payroll taxes, not shown in the chart above. When combined, this person’s spending on health care and the money spent by their employer on their behalf totals $5,950.
The Peterson Center on Healthcare and KFF are partnering to monitor how well the U.S. healthcare system is performing in terms of quality and cost.
