Health care spending during 1991-1998: a fifty-state review.

Health care spending varies considerably across states. Spending per person ranged from $2,731 in Utah to $4,810 in Massachusetts in 1998, with Medicaid's share of total health care spending rangingfrom 9.1 percent in Nevada to 31.5 percent in New York. Research has suggested many reasons for such differences, including socioeconomic and demographic factors, market forces, and diversity in practice patterns. By using consistent methodologies among states, these 1991-1998 estimates, last produced for 1991 alone, will further the understanding of these differences.