U.S. health care costs still higher than rest of the world

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the United States spent 17.3% ($4.5 trillion) of its gross domestic product on health care costs in 2022. Among the contributing factors: High salaries for specialized physicians and the high cost of medicines, plus administrative costs.

That figure has receded to the 17.5% level in 2019. It had been 19.5% in 2020 and 18.2% in 2021. But if left unchecked, that figure is projected to reach 20% by 2031.

By a different measure, per-capita health care costs in the United States were $12,555 in 2022, far above other advanced nations. Switzerland and Germany, the next two in line, hovered around $8,000 each, followed by other nations. But the medical outcomes in the United States are not better than in most advanced nations.

— Peter Wong