health care

noun

variants or healthcare

ˈhelth-ˌker 

 also  ˈheltth-

1

: efforts made to maintain, restore, or promote someone's physical, mental, or emotional well-being especially when performed by trained and licensed professionals

affordable health care

single-payer/universal health care

Health care is about keeping people healthy or fixing them up when they get sick.

—Ezekiel J. Emanuel

… has invested more than $500 million to improve access to quality healthcare in rural America …

—Bemidji Pioneer (online)

… the wearable [device] market is empowering people to take charge of their own healthcare.

—Rebecca Bellan

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care costs

Residents receive their meals, assistance with medications, … limited health-care services, supervision and companionship.

—Jere Daniel

2

: the people and organizations that provide health care

jobs in health care

The charges speak to some of the problems that face healthcare …

—Dave Newbart

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care workers

the health-care system/industry

Examples of health care in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His efforts included the building of homes, hospitals, and schools in various developing countries, with a particular emphasis on health care, housing, education and rural economic development. —Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025

This affects payment and provision of health care, housing, child care, education, veterans’ assistance and eldercare services, to name a few. —Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 4 Feb. 2025

In an executive order issued Saturday, Mr. Trump said that shipments of synthetic opioids had ravaged U.S. communities, put a severe strain on the U.S. health care system and were the leading cause of death for people aged 18 to 45 in the United States. —Ana Swanson, New York Times, 4 Feb. 2025

Hernandez said the shift in policy not only threatens public safety but discourages people who need help from law enforcement or health care providers to seek it out. —Artemis Moshtaghian, CNN, 4 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1906, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

health care

noun

variants or healthcare

1

: efforts to maintain, restore, or promote someone's physical, mental, or emotional well-being especially when performed by trained and licensed professionals (as in medicine, dentistry, clinical psychology, and public health)

American health care is at a crossroads. Rapidly advancing forms of technology are dramatically improving lives. Simultaneously, U.S. citizens face enormous inefficiencies, escalating costs, uneven quality, disparities in health care, and rising numbers of uninsured people.

—William H. Frist, The New England Journal of Medicine

Several reviews … reflect that telemedicine can substantially improve the quality of healthcare even under COVID-19 restrictions and measures.

—Elliot Mbunge et al., Sensors International

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care coverage

2

: the personnel and organizations that provide health care

In the attempt to prevent the spread of a viral infection to and from healthcare workers, the health community generally relies on the efficacy of personal protective equipment (PPE): gloves, masks, respirators, goggles, face shields, and gowns.

—Ivo Boskoski et al., Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

health-care providers