What is the total annual health expenditure in Australia?

• A. $200 billion annually.
• B. $250 billion annually (16% of federal budget).
• C. $500 billion annually.
• D. $1 trillion annually.

Answer: (B)

Total health expenditure is the total money spent on health goods and services in a year, counting both what the government funds and what households and private sources pay. In Australia this adds up across hospital care, primary care, medicines, aged care, public health programs, and the subsidies and insurance that support private spending. When you combine all of these public and private sources, the annual figure sits around $250 billion, and this amount is about 16% of the federal budget. That scale reflects why health is such a large line item: universal programs like Medicare plus private spending and aging population needs drive substantial resource use every year. The other options are outside the typical annual total for Australia.