IOM Recommends U.S. Tax Medical Care To Finance Improvements To Public Health Services

The United States federal government should double how much it spends on public health—and to finance this additional spending, the federal government should tax medical care services. These are the recent recommendations of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee on Public Health Strategies to improve Health. The recommendations were issued in its report, “For the Public's Health: Investing in a Healthier Future.” The report was sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Currently, public health spending is about $77.2 billion, representing about 3.1% of the $2.5 trillion spent on health. Federal spending on public health . . .