How do health care costs in the United States compare to other industrialized countries?
The United States spends more than 17% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care. This is substantial especially when compared to other nations. By comparison, Switzerland spends 11.3% of its GDP, Germany spends 10.6%, Canada spends 10%, and the United Kingdom spends 8.4%. In 2003, we spent over $6,700 per person on health care. No other developed country came close to this. In Canada and France, the figure was $3,000. In Great Britain, it was $2,300. Furthermore, there appears to be no additional health benefits for this additional spending. On many measures, health outcomes in the United States are not as good as the outcomes produced in other countries. Americans die sooner and they are more likely to die from unnecessarily conditions that can be treated. 8) Increasing taxes is one way to address the health care problem within the federal budget, yet wouldn’t there be a corresponding negative effect on the economy from such an increase? Increasing taxes — dependent upon th
