Rising incomes, population aging, and new technologies for extending and enhancing life, have caused health costs to rise 3.5% faster than overall income for many decades now in the United States. Some leading economists project that health expenditures, which already constitute 16% of the US economy, will rise to 30% of GDP by 2030, and perhaps approach 50% later in the century.
在美国，收入增加、人口老化以及延续生命和提高生命质量的新技术在几十年中让医疗费用上升超过总体收入3.5%。医疗费用已经占到美国经济的16%。某些主要的经济学家估计，到2030年，医疗费用将会占国民生产总值的30%，到本世纪末期有可能达到50%。其他富有和中等收入国家尽管现在一般只花费美国的一半，也不会相差太远。