Rising health care costs

One of the biggest challenges with health care is the consistency with which health care expenditures have been growing faster in relation to the general GDP growth across the world. The graphic below captures the rate of growth of national health expenditures in the US with respect to GDP growth rate.



When disaggregated, this rise in national healthcare expenditures is reflected in the high premiums being charged by insurers. As a recent Times article pointed out, the average health care premiums in the US has been rising faster than general price levels. Even more worryingly, the workers share of the premiums have been rising faster than the general rise in premiums.