Economist says healthcare reform bill will raise spending to 20 percent GDP 'much before 2017'

Kerry Anne McGeary, assistant professor of economics at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business, says the current version of the healthcare reform bill in the House of Representatives will raise healthcare spending to 20 percent GDP more quickly than the proposed date of 2017.

The healthcare reform bill, as currently proposed, offers major investments in one of our largest industries.

"From the perspective of the workforce and potential for future employment, the proposed healthcare bill offers investments in the healthcare workforce through increased funding for the National Health Service Corp; more training for primary care doctors, nurses and others devoted to public health; and the expansion of loans and scholarships to encourage training in the segments of the healthcare work force that are suffering shortages," said McGeary.

"These investments are necessary as the proposed bill seeks to cover the roughly 46 million uninsured Americans who are not currently part of our healthcare system," McGeary said. "Roughly 17 percent of our annual GDP is spent on the healthcare industry. Without these proposed entrants, our healthcare spending was projected to increase to 20 percent of the nation's GDP by 2017; however if the bill is passed, it is likely our healthcare spending will reach 20 percent of GDP much before 2017."

McGeary was recently named a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Her fellowship is with the NBER's Program in Health Economics.