The Economy's Steady Pulse

Yet this rampant growth comes with a hefty price tag. The United States spends more on health care per person than any other industrialized country, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Last year that totaled about $7,600 per person, the National Coalition on Health Care said.

Expenditures on technological advances, such as new machines and disease treatments, is a major factor in driving the long-term growth of health-care costs, contrary to popular belief that aging baby boomers are the main culprit, analysts said.

Federal outlays on Medicare and Medicaid are a ballooning portion of national spending -- rising from 4 percent last year to an anticipated 19 percent of GDP by 2082 -- and a growing contributor to the nation's budget deficit.

Health insurance is already too costly for many average Americans, leaving 47 million uninsured.

"Already we see some people making choices between prescription drugs and food," Anderson said. "It's just going to get worse."

Even as costs rise, there aren't any signs of the health-care economy abating. And although that economy may have created jobs, the nation is still figuring out how to pay for it.

"Comprehensive health reform won't drop out of the clear blue sky," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said in announcing Monday's summit. "We have to do some legwork first."