Let's Put This Into Perspective...
On December 3rd, 1993, when Yugoslavia was in the midst of massive hyperinflation, its central bank issued a newly denominated note valued at 500 billion dinars. Today, collectors can purchase one for about $5.
On January 7, 2026, almost exactly 32 years later, Donald Trump proposed increasing the US military’s budget by 500 billion US dollars, saying, “…our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars.”
That’s an absurd (insane) idea, one that we should all hope never comes to pass. But let’s put that half-a-trillion-dollar figure in some perspective, specifically how it might relate to public health. What could we fund with $500 billion? As the following table shows, the answer is quite a lot, for quite some time…
Or, put another way, how much extra could we provide to key health care institutions…
$82 million to each of the 6,093 hospitals in the U. S.
$763 million to each of the 655 nursing schools in the U.S.
$1.8 billion for every state and local accredited public health agency in the U. S.
$2.475 billion to each of the 202 medical schools in the U.S.
Or, consider this, “…every child, from birth to age 19, could be vaccinated against 15 common and often deadly or disabling diseases at a cost of just over $250 billion.” That’s every child across the globe, not just in the U. S., for roughly half of what was proposed for a military ‘plus-up.’ (See the analysis here.)
What new vaccines could be developed with half-a-trillion dollars directed at new research? Here, for example, are three primary candidates:
…or even distributing that amount across an entire range of health needs, as shown in this diagram from Let’s Say You Have $1 Billion…
Needless to say, there are a lot of options to spend an extra $500 billion on health rather than defense.
What would you suggest? Leave a note in Comments below.
NOTES
USAID
https://www.usaspending.gov/agency/agency-for-international-development?fy=2025
$500,000,000,000 / $30,515,120,984
NIH
https://officeofbudget.od.nih.gov
$500,000,000,000 / $27,900,000,000
The Global Fund
https://data.theglobalfund.org/financial-insights
$500,000,000,000 / $12,345,969,089
PEPFAR
https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/the-u-s-presidents-emergency-plan-for-aids-relief-pepfar/
$500,000,000,000 / $6,500,000,000
WHO
https://www.who.int/about/accountability/budget/programme-budget-digital-platform-2026-2027/executive-summary
$500,000,000,000 / 6,207,600,000
CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/budget/documents/fy2026/FY-2026-CDC-Budget-Overview-Factsheet.pdf
$500,000,000,000 / $4,234,000,000
UNICEF
https://www.unicef.org/executiveboard/documents/unicef-integrated-budget-2026-2029-srs-2025
$500,000,000,000 / $2,500,000,000
ACA premium credits
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-votes-revive-obamacare-funds-senators-plot-scaled-back-bill-rcna252889
$80,000,000,000 / 3 = $26,666,666,666
$500,000,000,000 / $26,666,666.666
(three years = $80 Billion)
Gavi
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/gavi-the-vaccine-alliance-has-saved-billions/#:~:text=This%20year's%20replenishment%20summit%20—%20co,that%20Europe%20prioritizes%20global%20health.
$11,900,000,000 / 5 = $2,380,000,000
$500,000,000,000 / $2,380,000,000
Hospitals
https://www.aha.org/statistics/fast-facts-us-hospitals
$500,000,000,000 / 6093
Nursing Schools
https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-data/all-news/schools-of-nursing-enrollment-increases-across-most-program-levels-signaling-strong-interest-in-nursing-careers
$500,000,000,000 / 655
Accredited Public Health Departments
https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/communications-resources/accredited-health-departments.html
$500,000,000,000 / 273
Medical Schools (MD and DO)
https://medschoolinsiders.com/pre-med/how-many-medical-schools-in-the-united-states/
$500,000,000,000 / 202
Tuberculosis
https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/tuberculosis/