Rapidly rising health costs is the most serious threat to the nation’s long-term prosperity. Already, the rapid run-up in federal health entitlement spending is putting tremendous pressure on the federal budget, says James C. Capretta, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

– Between 1972 and 2011, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid rose from 1.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 5.5 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

– CBO’s latest projections indicate that spending on these programs, plus the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) new entitlement spending, will push total health entitlement spending up to at least 8.4 percent of GDP by 2030.

– That’s a jump in spending of nearly 3 percentage points of GDP compared to today’s level — or the equivalent of another $500 billion in budget outlays.