Improving our healthcare system to deliver better quality care at lower cost is critically important to our nation’s long-term economic and fiscal well-being.
The rising cost of healthcare is one of the key drivers of our growing national debt, which crowds out important investments in our future economy, including priority areas like education, research and development, and infrastructure.
Although the United States spends significantly more per person on healthcare than other industrialized nations, our health outcomes are no better — and are often worse.
As lawmakers consider changes to healthcare reform, the infographic below highlights some key facts about the American healthcare system. To learn more about possible policy options, see our discussion of healthcare solutions or visit the Peterson Center on Healthcare.
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Further Reading
How Does the Aging of the Population Affect Our Fiscal Health?
As a large portion of the American population lives well beyond retirement age, the total cost of providing healthcare will grow as well.
Healthcare Costs Are a Major Driver of the National Debt and Here’s the Biggest Reason Why
Improving the U.S. healthcare system will be crucial to providing quality, affordable healthcare and to bettering our nation’s long-term economic and fiscal well-being.
U.S. Healthcare System Ranks Seventh Worldwide — Innovative but Fiscally Unsustainable
Spending on healthcare in the United States has far outpaced other major healthcare systems without yielding better outcomes.