While the growth in health care costs has
slowed in the past year, the rate of rise remains well above inflation. Currently,
Medicare and Medicaid costs exceed 25 percent of the federal budget and
health care costs in aggregate are approaching 20 percent of the GDP. As
pointed out in a July 2013 Journal of the American Medical Association
editorial, the magnitude of these costs—nearly twice other nations with more
comprehensive coverage—decreases the take-home pay of middle income
wage earners as revenue from increased productivity covers the higher costs;
diverts states’ revenues from schools, infrastructure, and other programs;
and is the major driver of the escalating federal deficit.