Healthcare

U.S. spending on health care is nearly double the GDP average for Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (PDF) (OECD) member-countries--almost all of which offer some form of universal coverage. A number of middle-income countries have also recently achieved universal health care or are moving in that direction. This has raised concern among some economists and U.S. business leaders that mounting health care costs not only affect U.S. domestic health but its ability to compete globally".

When our health care system fails to deliver value, it does not just affect individual companies and their workers, it harms our nation's ability to compete in the global economy," Ivan Seidenberg, chairman and CEO of Verizon, said following the study. "This raises the cost of our products and services and diverts resources from needed investments."

Factoring in costs borne by the government, the private sector, and individuals, the United States spends over $1.9 trillion annually on healthcare expenses, more than any other industrialized country. The United States spent 16 percent of its GDP in 2007 on health care, higher than any other developed nation. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that number will rise to 25 percent by 2025 without changes to federal law (PDF). Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical School estimate the United States spends 44 percent more per capita than Switzerland, the country with the second highest expenditures, and 134 percent more than the median for member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) These costs prompt fears that an increasing number of U.S. businesses will outsource jobs overseas or offshore business operations completely.

A November 2008 Kaiser Foundation report notes that access to employer-sponsored health insurance has been on the decline (PDF) among low-income workers, and health premiums for workers have risen 114 percent in the last decade. Small businesses are less likely than large employers to be able to provide health insurance as a benefit. At 12 percent, health care is the most expensive benefit paid by U.S. employers, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.These ballooning dollar figures place a heavy burden on companies doing business in the United States and can put them at a substantial competitive disadvantage in the international marketplace.