Informant38

• In 2003, health care spending in the United States reached $1.7 trillion, and was projected to reach $1.8 trillion in 2004.
  
• Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense.
  
• In 2003, the United States spent 15.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care. It is projected that the percentage will reach 18.7 percent in 10 years.
  
• Although nearly 45 million Americans are uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens.
  
• Health care spending accounted for 10.9 percent of the GDP in Switzerland, 10.7 percent in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
  

National Coalition on Health Care