Public spending for medical care has nearly doubled since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965, the Tax Foundation reported yesterday.
In 1964, it said, Federal and local governments spent $6.7-billion, compared with $12.6-billion last year, while private spending increased to $28.8-billion from $24.2-billion.
"To date, the major demonstrable effect of the 1965 Federal legislation creating Medicare and Medicaid has been a shift in financing medical care from the private to the public sector," said the report.
The funds spent per capita on personal health care increased to $206.31 last year from $178.86 in 1964, the foundation said.
A private, nonprofit organization founded in 1937, the foundation engages in non-partisan research and public education on the fiscal and management aspects of govern merit.
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