According to data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), total health expenditures in the U.S. have been on the rise. In 1970, health spending totaled $74.1 billion, but by 2019 that number had rocketed to $3.8 trillion.
At the beginning of 2020, the outbreak of COVID-19 led health services spending to drop 8.6% in the second quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of 2019. This was largely due to social distancing and many Americans delaying or canceling their elective procedures.