I am no economist, but I do not feel that healthcare spending is a great indicator of the health of an economy. Think of it this way, if you spend $40,000 on a car this year, you feel better, wealthier than you did last year, when you finished paying off that $6,000 clunker. BUT, if you spend $100,000 in medical expenses this year, compared to $1,000 last year, are you better off? Are you wealthier? No, you are sicker. Health care consumes wealth, it does not create it. Don't be fooled into thinking that more health care spending is good for an economy. Building a bigger house increases wealth. New cars increase your wealth, Even new roads and bridges increase the economic strength of an country. More health care spending, especially health care spending financed by public debt, decreases the wealth of a country.
Now, I am not saying that health care spending is worthless, especially to the people who benefit from it, but it does not HELP the economy. A store that has to hire additional security because they are being robbed blind does so because they HAVE to. The extra spending hurts their bottom line. So it is with health care.
You're absolutely right. Dramatic increases in health care spending would actually result in higher GDP figures. The 2.9% decline in the U.S. GDP in the first quarter is related to something else entirely. My suspicion is that we're starting to see the consequences of large numbers of U.S. residents (citizens and non-citizens alike) simply checking out of the economy and living with considerably less material consumption these days.