More confirmation of America’s excessive spending on healthcare
A short blog today to update you on healthcare spending around the developed world based on a new Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker chart collection recently published. I have covered this topic of spending and quality in the past many times.
- On January 26, 2026, I published a blog on the recent Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Actuary’s analysis of 2024 healthcare expenditures as well as refreshed readers on its June 2025 ten-year projections. That is here: https://www.healthcarelabyrinth.com/national-healthcare-expenditure-data-issued-for-2024-what-does-it-all-mean/ .
- I reported on Peterson-KFF’s quality comparison findings on October 30, 2025. That is here: https://www.healthcarelabyrinth.com/peterson-kff-health-system-tracker-reports-on-poor-healthcare-quality/ .
- And on September 17, 2025, I discussed the last time Peterson-KFF analyzed healthcare spending compared with other developed nations. That is here: https://www.healthcarelabyrinth.com/u-s-healthcare-prices-compared-with-other-developed-nations/ .
What did Peterson-KFF find last time on costs?
In the earlier analysis, Peterson-KFF found the following:
- The U.S. spends nearly twice as much on healthcare per person as the average in peer nations. The U.S. spent $14,432 in 2023, while the comparable country average was $7,393, with a range of $5,640 to $9,688. So, America’s costs are actually anywhere from about 49% to 156% more, with an average of about 95% more.
- The study says the U.S. spent about 16.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare in 2023, while the comparative country average was 11%.
What did Peterson-KFF find last time on quality?
Peterson-KFF finds that the U.S. performs worse in long-term health outcomes measures (e.g., life expectancy), certain treatment outcomes (e.g., maternal mortality and congestive heart failure admissions), some patient safety measures, and health system capacity.
On the other hand, the U.S. performs similarly to or better than peer nations in other measures of treatment outcomes (e.g., mortality rates within 30 days of hospital admission) and some patient safety measures (e.g., post-operative complications).
In essence, if you have good access to the U.S. healthcare system, treatment and quality is good. But if you do not, quality is low. It is all about your consistent and affordable access.
The latest spending analysis from Peterson-KFF
The chart collection examined how U.S. healthcare spending compares with healthcare spending in other similarly large and wealthy countries. It looks at healthcare spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) as well as GDP per capita. The analysis used data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Health Statistics database for peer countries, and from the 2024 National Health Expenditure Data (NHED) from the CMS Actuary for the United States. Findings include:
- Healthcare spending per capita in 2024 (current prices and purchasing power parity adjusted was $14,775 in America compared with an average of $7,860 in comparable countries. That is 88% more. The range of per capita GDP spending is $9,963 to $5,790. So, America spends 48% to 155% more.
- Interestingly, in eight of 11 other countries studied, healthcare spending growth was more than in the United States from 2023 to 2024, but the U.S. still had the highest per capita dollar amount growth.
- While U.S. spending growth was higher than the other countries’ average in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, U.S. spending growth has been lower than the other countries’ average since then.
- As a percentage of GDP, the U.S. spends about 17.6% on healthcare as of 2024, compared with 11.2% in the comparable country average. That is about 54% more.
- Over the past five decades, the difference between healthcare spending as a share of GDP in the U.S. and comparable OECD countries has widened. Back in 1970, the GDP percentage in the U.S. was 6.0% vs. 4.9% in the other nations.
Peterson-KFF Analysis: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/
#healthcare #spending #quality #costs
— Marc S. Ryan
