Spending on health care in the United States could double by 2017, reaching $4.3 trillion and accounting for 19.5 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, a new government report shows.

A recent report published by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the U.S. would spend nearly 20 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) for health care, outpacing economic growth and inflation over the next nine years.

The costs have already reached more than $2.1 trillion in 2006, and the projected rise is expected to happen as baby boomers begin to enter the Medicare system, the report said.

“Our expectation is that growth in health spending is expected to be steady over the projection, which is 2007 through 2017, at 6.7 percent per year,” said report co-author Andrea Sisko, an economist with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“At the same time, we are expecting economic growth to slow to an average annual rate of 4.7 percent. As a result, the combination of steady health spending growth and slowing economic growth will lead to the health care part of gross domestic product rising to nearly 20 percent by 2017, nearly one-fifth of the economy,” she said.

With health care a big issue in the upcoming presidential election, it will remain to be seen what kind of policy will eventually be adopted, according to eFluxMedia.com. Republicans are pushing for reform to cut Medicare costs, while Democrats are reluctant to any changes that could mean less coverage and/or higher costs for patients, they said.