American Enterprise Institute (AEI) resident fellow J.D. Kleinke, an expert on health care business strategy and entrepreneurship, explains that contrary to the popular misconception, the growth rate of national health spending has been dropping for a decade.

In this “Health Care 101” guide, Christopher J. Conover, author of the just-released “American Health Economy Illustrated,” distinguishes fact from fiction and answers some of the most fundamental questions about health care and health spending in America.

New data show that health spending over the past several years has been normalizing toward the rate of general inflation, rather than growing higher and higher, as had been the case almost continuously since the 1970s.

While the United States consumes a disproportionate share of global resources devoted to medical care, this global share is shrinking.

Two months ago, the House adopted a budget resolution that outlines the Republican majority's ambitious plans to slow the growth of federal entitlement spending. If implemented properly, entitlement spending restraint can address the long-term fiscal imbalance in a way that promotes economic growth and freedom.

Mitt Romney assuredly expanded coverage in his state, but the result was faster-than-average growth in the state’s health expenditures and faster-than-average growth in the burden of health spending relative to the state’s income.

To better understand the determinants of health spending, it is important to distinguish spending on chronic health conditions from spending on patients with chronic health conditions.

Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry boast much better records than Mitt Romney in holding down health expenditures.