Healthcare spending is expected to use up a majority of the U.S. budget and therefore contribute more to the national deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office's new report released Wednesday. The CBO report states that mandatory federal healthcare spending will increase 93 percent in the next 25 years, making up 10.4 percent of the gross national product, up from the current 5.4 percent, The Washington Post reported.
According to Bloomberg BNA, reasons for this astronomical increase in healthcare spending can be attributed to the expansion of health insurance coverage, constant progression of medical technology and increasing personal income. The CBO cautions that the current rates of healthcare spending "cannot continue indefinitely, because if they did, total spending on healthcare would eventually account for all of the country's economic output--an impossible outcome." Article