Miguel Afonso Caetano on Nostr: "Close to a fifth of US GDP comes from health expenditure. That is well above other ...

"Close to a fifth of US GDP comes from health expenditure. That is well above other OECD nations (in per capita terms too). Yet the country has among the worst health outcomes. Americans are more likely to die younger, have multiple chronic conditions, and die from a preventable or treatable malady, relative to citizens in other rich nations.

This is worth keeping in mind each time we read about the “strong” US consumer and jobs market. Healthcare spending is the largest component of American households’ services expenditure (which drives overall consumption). As for employment, more than 40 per cent of new private sector jobs created since the start of 2023 have been in healthcare. The biggest US industries by revenue include hospitals, drug wholesalers and medical insurers.

Put simply, a significant share of the US’s “booming” economy is generated by sickness. Inefficiencies in its healthcare system may also prop up US GDP by sustaining high levels of costly healthcare-related expenditure, whether through overtreatment or the ongoing treatment of preventable illnesses."

https://www.ft.com/content/fd8cd955-e03c-4d5c-8031-c9f836356a07

#USA #AmericanExceptionalism #Healthcare #Debt #HealthInsurance