Spending was 17.3% of the economy last year. The share paid by the U.S. will soon exceed 50%, a study says.

February 04, 2010|By Noam N. Levey

Reporting from Washington — In a stark reminder of growing costs, the government has released a new estimate that healthcare spending grew to a record 17.3% of the U.S. economy last year, marking the largest one-year jump in its share of the economy since the government started keeping such records half a century ago.

The almost $2.5 trillion spent in 2009 was $134 billion more than the previous year, when healthcare consumed 16.2% of the gross domestic product, according to an annual report by independent actuaries at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, scheduled for release Thursday.

The nonpartisan accounting agency also projected that as early as next year, the country could mark another milestone as government picks up more than half of the nation's total healthcare tab for the first time.

The rise in current costs, driven in part by surging spending in Medicare and Medicaid, and the bleak projections for the future do not take into account changes that may come if Democrats revive their healthcare overhaul legislation.

The report appears likely to fuel further debate about the health bills now stalled in Congress.

In the absence of change, the report raises a grim prospect for the country -- a healthcare system consuming an ever greater and potentially unsustainable share of the economy even as private health coverage lags.

Last year, CMS estimated that government spending on healthcare would not overtake private spending until 2016, compared with 2011 or 2012 in the current report.

"The health system is hurting, and we are seeing that in these numbers," said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a leading authority on healthcare policy.

The report also points up the financial cost of the so-called Great Recession and the growing pressure it is putting on state and local governments.

Federal and state spending on Medicaid, the nation's primary health insurance program for low-income Americans, jumped nearly 10% in 2009, according to the report. Medicare spending, meanwhile, shot up just over 8%.

Obama and many healthcare experts have argued that reshaping the healthcare system will ultimately make it more efficient, even if overall health spending continues to increase -- a claim Republicans dispute.”

Auto and homeowner's insurances are regulated for premiums, the HC industry? No...and for example Anthem Blues Cross increased some premiums last year 68% and this year announced they are going up 39%....this after posting record profits.

Film at eleven:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show#35305603

(if it does not come up look under Most Viewed for "What if health reform doesn't pass?") Great video.

The doctors would make more money if we got rid of the insurance rather than give them more .It would cost us less to . Big pockets bring even bigger bills .