Graphic report on U.S. health care spending

The California HealthCare Foundation has released a fascinating and useful graphic examination of health care spending in the United States. Health Care Costs 101 (available as a PDF download) uses data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and other places to create graphs and charts detailing the different aspects of this country's health care spending. Among the information provided is the increase in national health spending over the last half century (going from $28 billion in 1960 to $2,262 billion in 2007), the breakdown of out of pocket vs. private insurance spending, the annual growth rates of health spending compared to the consumer price index, and more. For anyone needing a primer on health care costs in the U.S., this report is highly recommended.