Health care costs could account for 99 percent of GDP in the future

From the Kansas City Star, an interesting article about the potentially spiraling costs of health care. The story notes that health care could account for as much as 99 percent of the country's GDP by 2082:

How far can spiraling health care spending go?

If historical trends continue unchecked, health care will account for 99 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product by 2082, the Congressional Budget Office predicts.

It’s unlikely we will ever get to the point where virtually every consumer is a patient and every producer is providing care.

But health care spending has been outpacing overall economic growth by an average of about 2 percentage points for decades. Over time, that adds up to really big numbers.

Health care was responsible for just 4.7 percent of the GDP in 1960. Last year, it was 16.6 percent — $2.4 trillion.

By 2018, when spending is expected to hit $4.4 trillion, health care will account for a little more than a fifth of the economy, the government estimates.