Drivers of Variation in Health Care Spending Across US Counties.

Importance: Understanding the drivers of health care spending across US counties is important for developing policies and assessing the allocation of health care services.

Objective: To estimate the amount of cross-county health care spending variation explained by (1) population age, (2) health condition prevalence, (3) service utilization, and (4) service price and intensity.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this cross-sectional study, data for 4 key drivers of per capita spending were extracted for 3110 US counties, 148 health conditions, 38 age-sex groups, 4 payers, and 7 types of care for 2019.

Tracking US Health Care Spending by Health Condition and County.

Importance: Understanding health conditions with the most spending and variation across locations and over time is important for identifying trends, highlighting inequalities, and developing strategies for lowering health spending.

Objective: To estimate US health care spending for each of 3110 US counties, across 4 payers (Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and out-of-pocket payments), and according to 148 health conditions, 38 age/sex groups, and 7 types of care from 2010 to 2019.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Observational analysis using more than 40 billion insurance claims and nearly 1 billion facility records.