Dieleman JL, Chen C, Crosby SW, et al. - From 2002 to 2016, healthcare spending in the United States varied by race and ethnicity across different types of care, even after adjusting for age and health conditions.

• In 2016, an estimated $2.4 trillion was spent on healthcare across the 6 types of services examined.

• In 2016, the estimated age-standardized total health care spending per person for American Indian and Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) individuals was $7649; $4692 for Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) individuals; $7361 for Black (non-Hispanic) individuals; $6025 for Hispanic individuals; $9276 for individuals categorized as multiple races (non-Hispanic); and $8141 for White (non-Hispanic) individuals, who accounted for an estimated 72% of healthcare spending.

• After accounting for population size and age, White people were expected to spend 15% more on ambulatory care than the overall population.

• Although black (non-Hispanic) people spent 26% less on ambulatory care than the general population, they spent 19% more on inpatient and 12% more on emergency department care.

• Ambulatory care cost per person was predicted to be 33% lower for Hispanics than for the general population. Individuals who were Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) spent less on all types of care except dental than the all-population mean, while American Indian and Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) individuals spent more on emergency department care than the all-population mean, and multiple-race (non-Hispanic) individuals spent more on emergency department care than the all-population mean.

• All 18 statistically significant disparities in spending by race and ethnicity by kind of care corresponded to differences in utilization.

• When the underlying disease burden was taken into account, these differences remained.