The United States spends 7.2 percent points more of our gross domestic product (GDP) on health care than several industrialized countries. That is $1.3 trillion the country effectively wastes on health care without getting better health outcomes.
This is such a large amount of money it is almost impossible to wrap one’s head around. But it’s important to highlight just what could be done with that much money.
If the federal government could prevent all this wasted spending and capture the savings, the U.S. could provide everyone universal health care and:
- Double social security payments and have over $400 billion left over (more than enough to cover free college and paid family leave and triple food stamps)
- More than triple the amount the U.S. spends per student on K-12 education
- Eliminate all state and local individual income taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes.
- Quadruple what federal, state, and local governments are spending on all forms of infrastructure (roads, highways, public transit, water systems, rails, etc…)
- Give every adult in America an extra $5,300 a year
- Increase total government research and development across every field by ninefold
- Fund the modern equivalent of 18 Apollo projects at the same time.
– ShadowProof