Most U.S. Health Spending Is Exploding — but Not for Mental Health

By Catherine Rampell

The New York Times Blog - Economix

Originally published July 2, 2013

Here is an excerpt:

Mental health spending, both public and private, was about $150 billion in 2009, more than double its level in inflation-adjusted terms in 1986, according to a recent article in Health Affairs. But the overall economy also about doubled during that time. As a result, direct mental health spending has remained roughly 1 percent of the economy since 1986, while total health spending climbed from about 10 percent of gross domestic product in 1986 to nearly 17 percent in 2009.

The entire blog post is here.

Thanks to Vince Bellwoar for this story.