Rising U.S. Healthcare Costs Threaten Economic Stability and Insurance Affordability
The U.S. government shutdown highlighted unresolved challenges in healthcare funding, with no bipartisan solution currently in place. CMS projects U.S. healthcare spending to reach nearly $9 trillion by 2035, amounting to 20-22% of the GDP, while the CBO forecasts healthcare costs could rise to 31% of GDP by 2035 and escalate to 46% by 2080 without policy changes. The expanding healthcare expenditure poses risks such as increasing insurance premiums, higher out-of-pocket costs, faster Medicare insolvency, and reduced federal funding for other key areas like education and defense.