The report looked at preventive health spending within HHS, Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense, all of which receive and disburse funding for preventive health activities that are either clinical, such as a health screening or inoculation, or community-oriented, such as an educational media campaign. HHS, Defense and VA estimated preventive health spending was $24 billion, $1 billion and $576,000, respectively, for fiscal year 2011.
Researchers found reporting gaps between the departments, such as funding available for services versus money actually spent on those services. The report also noted the departments had difficulty tracking preventive health spending because such initiatives were often integrated with other programs.
International data from member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports only aggregate public health spending for each nation, and it ranked the United States eighth on this metric. However, the GAO noted the OECD doesn’t include U.S. spending for preventive services in hospitals or physicians’ facilities.
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