The Department of Health and Human Services accounts for over a quarter of all federal government spending, nearly twice as much as the Department of Defense.

The government spends money on: Social Security, Medicare, and other mandatory spending required by law

The federal government spent nearly $1.1 trillion on health care in fiscal year 2018 (table 1). Of that, Medicare claimed roughly $583 billion, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) about $399 billion, and veterans' medical care about $70 billion.