THE DATA BEHIND THE BOOK — GET YOUR FREE COPY OF DELAY, DENY, DEPOSE →
Every chart on this page is cited, sourced, and updated. This is not opinion — it is the documented record of how American healthcare got here, and where it’s going.
Updated annually from government sources. Come back every year — these numbers get worse.
Total annual premium — employer + employee combined — for a family of four. Inflation-adjusted to 2024 dollars. Most Americans only see their paycheck deduction.
Source: KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey (1999–2024); BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey (pre-1999); projection based on CBO actuarial growth assumptions. All figures inflation-adjusted to 2024 USD via BLS CPI.
Healthcare administrative overhead as a percentage of total health spending. The US spends more on paperwork than most countries spend on actual care.
Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Data; Himmelstein & Woolhandler, NEJM (2019); Commonwealth Fund international comparisons.
Healthcare as a percentage of US GDP, 1960–2024, with CBO baseline projection to 2035. The dashed line assumes no policy change.
Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Data (historical); CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook (projection, updated annually).
Annual healthcare fraud recovered by DOJ and HHS OIG. Note: recovered fraud is estimated at less than 10% of total fraud committed.
Source: HHS Office of Inspector General Annual Report; DOJ Health Care Fraud Unit.
Medicare per-capita spending by US county. Spending varies by 2–3x across counties — driven by market concentration, not health outcomes. Hover a county to see its figure.
Source: CMS Geographic Variation in Medicare Spending; Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care.
Updated daily. Sourced from KFF Health News, STAT News, ProPublica, and Modern Healthcare.
The eight policy decisions that built the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Each one has a year, an origin, and data showing what it cost you.
Employer-sponsored insurance as a share of total US coverage, 1940–2024. A wartime wage freeze in 1942 — nobody voted for this.
Source: KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey; Census Bureau health insurance historical data.
US healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP, 1960–2024. Fee-for-service reimbursement rewards volume, not outcomes.
Source: CMS National Health Expenditure Data.
of denied patients actually appeal. The system relies on your exhaustion.
Claim denial rates by major insurer in ACA marketplace plans. Most people give up when denied. That's the business model.
Medicare Advantage prior authorization requests submitted annually, 2019–2024. Growing every year.
Percentage of physicians in independent practice vs. employed by a hospital or corporate entity, 2000–2024.
Private equity healthcare deal volume by year, 2010–2024. Sick people can't shop around. Wall Street noticed.
Source: PitchBook private equity healthcare data as cited in JAMA / NEJM academic studies on PE healthcare acquisitions.
Pharmaceutical industry R&D spend vs. marketing and administrative spend, 2010–2023. Then: the same drug, US price vs. Canada.
Source: SEC annual filings; RAND Drug Pricing Research; OpenSecrets Healthcare Industry Lobbying.