Putting US Spending On Healthcare In Pespective

The US spends 17% of GDP on healthcare.  The difference between US spending on healthcare and the 9% of GDP spent by the average nation on healthcare is 8%.  That amounts to $1.336 trillion excess spending on healthcare over average spending.  To put that into perspective, excess spending on healthcare in the US is about equal to the GDP of Spain which is the 14th largest economy in the world.  That would not be a problem if our healthcare outcomes were superior to the average, or if all Americans were covered by healthcare insurance, but neither of this is true.  We simply have the least efficient healthcare system in the world.  It is the best system in the world for those who have quality health insurance but that is not a good justification for the inefficiency of the system.