Federal Health Spending Projected To Reach 8% GDP By 2038

Federal health care spending is projected to reach 8.0% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2038, up from its current 4.8% share of the GDP, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate. From 1974-2013, federal spending for health care programs was an average of 2.8% of GDP. The projected growth is due to reasons such as population aging, expansion of federal subsidies for health insurance, and the rising costs of health care per person.  In 2012, health care spending in the United States was $2.8 trillion, representing 17.2% of GDP.

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