Nongovernment Philanthropic Spending on Public Health in the United States

The objective of this study was to estimate the dollar amount of nongovernment philanthropic spending on public health activities in the United States. Health expenditure data were derived from the US National Health Expenditures Accounts and the US Census Bureau. Results reveal that spending on public health is not disaggregated from health spending in general. The level of philanthropic spending is estimated as, on average, 7% of overall health spending, or about $150 billion annually according to National Health Expenditures Accounts data tables. When a point estimate of charity care provided by hospitals and office-based physicians is added, the value of nongovernment philanthropic expenditures reaches approximately $203 billion, or about 10% of all health spending annually.