National health expenditures, fiscal year 1977.

The Nation spent $163 billion for health care in fiscal year 1977 or $737 per person, according to preliminary figures compiled by the Health Care Financing Administration. This figure was 12 percent higher than spending for such purposes in the previous 12 months and represented an 8.8-percent share of the GNP. Public spending, which financed 42 percent of all health care in 1977, increased 11 percent while private spending rose 13 percent. Spending for hospital care went up 14 percent to $68.4 billion, and the total spent for physicians' services ($32.2 billion) reflected a 13-percent rise. Third-party payments financed 70 percent of all personal health care in the country.