17% of the United States GDP is spent on the healthcare system.
Posted by Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov, Checked
- Sources
- 3 contradict1 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 55%
Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica TarlovOct 27, 2026
The 17% figure is close to the record: a GAO forum summary says US health expenditures have been 'about 17 percent of GDP in recent years,' and 2023 was 17.7%. But CMS's official 2024 figure is 18.0%, and 2026 is estimated at 18.7%, so as of 2026-10-27 the most recent official share was closer to 18% than 17%.
Minor detail. The sources confirm the claim; only a minor detail differs, such as a name's spelling, a title's wording or a rounding.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… We've decided to make them for profit. Probably the greatest level of anxiety in the United States is vis-a-vis the monetization of our healthcare system, where we've decided that 17% of our GDP is really there to serve as nutrition for shareholders and the top 10% wealthiest, who get the best health care in the world. We are now monetizing legislative or political power, monetizing the White House. …
Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. CMS data reported by Reuters and AMA put healthcare spending at 18% of GDP in 2024, up from 17.7% in 2023, so the latest official year reads closer to 18% than 17%.[1][3][4]
Supports. A GAO forum summary (October 2026) says US health expenditures have accounted for 'about 17 percent of GDP in recent years,' outside the 2020 COVID spike.[2]
Context. Projections cited by Franklin Templeton and HealthSystemTracker put 2026 health spending at about 18.7% of GDP, so the share was rising past 17% by the claim's date.[5][6]
Context. The claim's figure is a rounded estimate that sits between the 17.7% (2023) and 18.0% (2024) official shares, so it is defensible as approximate but not as the current figure.[1][4]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 4 not rated
- 1US healthcare spending soars to over $5 trillion in 2024reuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts, context
- 2GAO-25-107465, Accessible Version, Accessible Version, HIGHLIGHTS OF A FORUM: Reducing Spending and Enhancing Value in the U.S. Health Care Systemgao.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Trends in health care spending | Healthcare costs in the USama-assn.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 4US: Health System Expenditureshealthsystemsfacts.org · not rated · cited for: contradicts, context
- 5Breaking Health Care’s “Iron Triangle”franklintempleton.com.sg · not rated · cited for: context
- 6How much is health spending expected to grow?healthsystemtracker.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post