Health

US Spent More On Health Care In One Year Than Britain’s Entire 2016 GDP

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

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Robert Donachie Capitol Hill and Health Care Reporter
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America’s budget for health care in 2016 was roughly the same size as the entire gross domestic product (GDP) of a handful of European nations.

The U.S. spent more than $3.3 trillion on health care in 2016, a roughly 4.3 percent increase from the previous year. The growth was spread out over both private and public health care sectors, and in the medical goods and services industry.

To put the $3.3 trillion figure in context, that is more than the respective 2016 GDPs of the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Spain and Mexico.

Medicare spending expanded 3.6 percent to $672.1 billion in 2016, but grew at a slower rate than in 2014 and 2015, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Medicaid spending grew $565.5 billion, or 3.9 percent.

Americans’ out-of-pocket spending, which includes payments for premiums, copayments and deductibles, increased by $323.5 billion. Out-of-pocket spending grew at a quicker rate in 2016 than anytime since 2007.

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