Healthcare spending in the United States continues its upward climb, approaching $5 trillion annually in 2023. Employer-sponsored family plans now average $27,000 per year, placing mounting pressure on households and businesses. Yet despite this spending, the country’s health outcomes remain far from world-leading. The latest OECD data show U.S. per-person spending is roughly twice the OECD average, with Switzerland and Germany trailing behind as the next highest spenders.

While chronic disease remains a major driver of these costs, a quieter—and rapidly escalating—force is straining the system: mental-health challenges, burnout, and stress-related illness. These issues siphon hundreds of billions of dollars from the U.S. economy each year through lost productivity, absenteeism, disability claims, and increased medical use.........

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