Health care is only getting bigger and more expensive for governments and taxpayers Increasing life expectancies and graying populations throughout the developed world will place stress on public health insurance systems. Governments will have to cope with ongoing questions about whether to pay for expensive new medical technologies. Given these trends we can confidently expect health care to be an ever-growing line item on government balance sheets. Bhattacharya,Hyde and Tu-HealthEconomicsBhattacharya, Hyde and Tu – Health Economics Health care is only getting bigger and more expensive for governments and taxpayers • Increasing life expectancies and graying populations throughout the developed world will place stress on public health insurance systems. • Governments will have to cope with ongoing questions about whether to pay for expensive new medical technologies. Given these trends we can confidently expect health care to be an ever-growing line item on government balance sheets