U.S. Health Care Spending Reached $5.7 Trillion in 2025, or Nearly $16,500 per Person

U.S. health care spending totaled $5.7 trillion in 2025, a 7.3 percent increase from the prior year, according to government figures published in Health Affairs and reported by @statnews. That figure translated to nearly $16,500 per person.

Americans visited doctors, underwent hospital procedures, and filled prescriptions more often than economists had projected, @statnews noted. Prescription drug spending alone climbed more than 11 percent during the year. The FDA approved Gilead Sciences’ Trodelvy as a first-line treatment for newly diagnosed patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer on or before June 25, 2026.

AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Datroway received approval for a similar patient group in May 2026. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators reintroduced legislation intended to spur development of new antibiotics, @statnews reported.