Health care spending in the United States reached $3.2 trillion in 2013, which accounted for 17% of U.S. GDP. This is almost twice as much as the OECD average of 9%, yet health outcomes in the U.S. are not twice as good as in these other countries. In fact, many outcomes are worse. For example, life expectancy at birth in the U.S. is 78.8 years, which falls short of the OECD average of 80.5 years.