Health Care

Health Care Reform

If there is one thing in the current health care debate that everyone agrees upon, it's that the issues are complex. Congressional information provides users with the information they need to examine the isssues and form their own opinions based on fact.

According to a recent CRS report, more than 45 million people have no health insurance, and costs are rising for nearly everyone. The U.S. spends over $2.5 trillion (about 17% of the gross domestic product) on health care services and products. This is far more than other industrialized countries spend, but the U.S. scores on many idicators of health quality are average or worse than average.

Peter Orszag, the director of CBO, is of the opinion that health care contains the largest inefficiencies in our economic and that health care costs are the key to our economic future.

Sources: Health Care Reform: An Introduction, CRS Reports, CRS-2009-DSP-0503, June 30, 2009, LexisNexis Congressional Research Digital Collection; DURABLE-URL: http://www.lexisnexis.com/congcomp/getdoc?CRDC-ID=CRS-2009-DSP-0503

Getting Better Value in Health Care, HRG-2008-BGH-0011, July 16, 2008, LexisNexis Congressional Hearings Digital Collection, DURABLE-URL: http://www.lexisnexis.com/congcomp/getdoc?HEARING-ID=HRG-2008-BGH-0011; CIS number 2008-H261-26; Committee on the Budget Serial No. 110-37; SUDOC: Y4.B85/3:110-37