Prior to the development of the Internet, information from U.S. government agencies on the U.S. health care system was provided free or at a very low cost through the mail. Now, all of this information is immediately available through a number of government web sites.

The most accessible information on the health of the American People and on the costs of U.S. health care are in the on-line handbooks published by the Department of Health and Human Services each year. These handbooks are produced in the Adobe Acrobat system and are easy-to-read with the Acrobat Reader which can be downloaded free from a number of web sites.

Although it is possible to page through the handbooks on-line using Acrobat Reader, it is much easier to download the "pdf" file containing a handbook to your desktop. It is then possible to navigate through the handbook to the appropriate pages or statistical tables, read the text or the tables, and copy the information off to other files.

It is possible to download the various HHS Handbooks back to 1975 at this site, including the most recent handbook "Health, United States, 2000, with Adolescent Health Chartbook."

National Center for Health Statistics annual reports can also be accessed as well as downloadable spreadsheet files for 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996-97, and 1995

But it should be noted that the most convenient source of statistical information is available through the statistical tables in the annual handbooks. The current handbook, Health, United States, 2000, contains 146 statistical tables. Included among these are tables on "Health Status and Determinants," the "Utilization of Health Resources," "Health Care Resources," and "Health Care Expenditures," which can be found under the "List of Trend Tables."

Table 114 in the 2000 handbook shows health care expenditures as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita for the U.S. and 29 First World countries for selected years from 1960 to 1997. Table 115 shows U.S. , state and local health expenditures as a percentage GDP and the annual percent change for selected years from 1960 to 1998. For the same selected years from 1960 to 1998, Table 116 shows the Consumer Price Index and the average annual percent change.

Downloadable spreadsheets for each table in the 2000 Handbook can be accessed from the NCHS Home Page.

The Department of Health and Human Services also produces more detailed (and more useful) statistical information in the form of tables in which the data fields are separated by commas. These comma-separated files can be downloaded to your desktop and easily converted into Excel or Lotus spreadsheets, and then manipulated with the appropriate spreadsheet software.