US is an outlier in healthcare spending, but not social services spending

Becker's Healthcare August 14, 2019
Emily Rappleye

A new study debunks the theory that the United States’ healthcare spending is high because it doesn’t invest enough in social services.

Published in Health Affairs, the study compares the healthcare spending and social spending of 35 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Researchers used data from 1980 to 2015.

It is well-known the U.S. spends more than other countries on healthcare, and this study confirms that. It shows the U.S. spends 16.8 percent of gross domestic product on healthcare, while the average OECD country spends 8.8 percent of GDP on healthcare.

However, U.S. social spending was nearly on par with the average spent by other countries. The...

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