New Report: Health Research Investment Stagnant
In 2006, the United States invested an estimated $116 billion in research to improve health according to a recent Research!America report. This amount is only 5.5% of the $2.1 trillion spent on health by the nation in the same year.
Analysis of the 2006 data and previous year estimates by Research!America shows the U.S. investment in heath research is headed in the wrong direction. Federal government funding for health research has been flat since 2004, and investment by industry, state and local governments and other private sources has grown minimally. As a result, research as a proportion of the U.S. health dollar is falling.
While health research funding increased only 4.2% between 2005 and 2006, health spending overall increased 6.8%, and it is expected to grow at a similar rate for at least the next decade. Since health expenditures are projected to double by 2016, now is the time to accelerate investments in research to find solutions to costly conditions. The report includes further analysis and is available here.
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