Do people in the US spend more on their automobile than they do on
their health care?
Include for autos --- purchases, leases, insurance, gasoline,  maintenance
Include for health --- insurance premiums, out of pocket expenses for
drugs, doctors, hospital etc.

According to the data provided in the most recent Consumer Expenditure
Survey Annual Report, published by the U.S. Department of Labor,
Bureau of Labor Statistics in February 2004, people in the US spend do
more on their automobile than they do on their health care.
http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxann02.pdf

Average annual expenditures.

Automobile

Vehicle purchases (net outlay)    $3,665
Gasoline and motor oil            $1,235
Other vehicle expenses            $2,471
Total Automobile:                 $7,371

Health

Health care                       $2,350

This includes health insurance, drugs (prescription and
nonprescription) , medical services and medical supplies.

?Spending on health care rose 7.7 percent in 2002, following increases
of 5.5 percent in 2000 and 5.6 percent in 2001. As was the case in
both of the earlier years, the increase in 2002 was due primarily to
relatively large increases for health insurance and drugs (both
prescription and nonprescription). Spending for health insurance rose
10.1 percent in 2002 and spending on drugs rose 8.6 percent. Spending
for medical services and for medical supplies, the other two health
care components, rose 3.0 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.?


Source:
Consumer Expenditures in 2002
U.S. Department of Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
February 2004
Report 974
This report shows the latest results from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Download here:
http://www.bls.gov/cex/csxann02.pdf


Other Consumer Expenditure Survey Annual Reports
http://www.bls.gov/cex/home.htm


Search terms:
Americans spend +health
Americans spend +automobile OR car OR vehicle


I hope you find this information helpful!


Best regards,
Bobbie7

It is fairly well known that 15% of US GDP is spent on healthcare
(including government, business, and personal speding).  US GDP is
about $12 trillion, so:

15% X $12 trillion = 1.8 trillion for medical expenses

Americans drive more than 2.5 trillion miles per year in automobiles,
light trucks and SUVs, according to a MEMA report.
http://money.howstuffworks.com/gas-price1.htm
Estimates of the average cost per mile driven vary, but my best guess
is $.30. (this estimate includes all auto expenses that you listed)
 
$.30 per mile X 2.5 trillion miles = $.75 trillion for automotive expenses

That automotive estimate doesn't include commercial trucks and the
like, so if you want those included it's probably close to

$2 medical for every $1 automotive in the US.

I'll be interested to see the Researchers take on this question.

The fact is that most Americans probably do spend less on health care
than for auto expenses.  But that is due to several things:

1) businesses/government pay most of insurance costs, so individuals
don't see most of the real expense (as a government employee the
government pays 2/3 of my insurance bill)

2) a small minority of the population has a vast majority of the
medical bills in a given year
   - a car accident might put you way over the top in a random year
   - old people tend to spend way more than younger adults
   - a family having a baby will have much higher expenses
   - very sick people (HIV, cancer, other serious long term health
issues) bring the average health bill way up
   I'm sure you can think of several more, but it's clear that a
minority of the people in the US spend way more than the rest in any
given year... so most people see average medical expenses much lower
than they actually are.

3) The government pays much of the health bill for the unhealthiest
people.  They pay medicare and medicaid for old people and these bills
are huge.  And for people who simply cannot afford their hospitol
bills, I'm sure the government pays their share of those too.

It's very commonly known that 15% of US GDP is spent on health care in
1 way or another.
"Health spending reached $1.6 trillion in 2002"
http://www.chcf.org/documents/insurance/HealthCostsSnapshot04.pdf
This site also shows that $1.8 trillion was expected for 2004 (notice
that is the estimate I gave in my first post).

My automotive estimate of $.75 trillion, I will admit it is not
precise, however it's an educated guess made with a decent amount of
experience and knowledge of finances, economics, and car research. 
Even if I'm 50% off on my estimate (which I assure you I'm not that
far off) then that would only be
$.75 trillion X 1.5 = $1.125 trillion 
which is still far less than the $1.8 trillion spent on health care.

I look and feel like I'm often talking to myself in these boards, the
other posts are so often deleted.  Ah well, here I am talking to
myself again.