US investment in health research remains stagnant, new research shows

In 2010, the US public and private sectors invested $140.5 billion in 2010 on research to find new ways to treat, cure and prevent disease and disability, according to non-profit public education and advocacy alliance Research!America's latest annual estimate.

Health research spending accounted for only 5.5% of the $2,600 billion the USA spent on health care in 2010. Health research as a percentage of health care spending has hovered around 5.5% since 2005, remaining essentially stagnant.

Investment in health research experienced only a 1% growth over 2009 levels, from $139 billion in 2009 to $140.5 billion in 2010. This small increase was not enough to keep pace with the rise in the cost of conducting health research.