Health-care spending hits nearly $2 trillion

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spending on health care hit nearly $2 trillion in 2005, fueled by the cost of hospital care, doctor fees and prescription drugs, government experts said in an annual report released on Tuesday.

Health-care spending grew 6.9 percent to about $1.99 trillion from about $1.86 trillion in 2004, a slower pace than the 7.9 percent increase a year earlier, the report by the National Health Statistics Group found. The increase outpaced a 3.4 percent rise in inflation in 2005.

The statistics group is part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the single largest payer for U.S. health care.

Leading the increase were hospital services, which grew 7.9 percent to $611.6 billion and accounted for 31 percent of all U.S. health care dollars in 2005. Rising labor costs amid a sustained worker shortage were major factors, according to the report, one of the most comprehensive available.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/spending_dc

we pay for medicare, brings in. I have never seen figures addressing that one. The only thing I ever see are fhe figures about how much charity the government extends to us.

patchwork of programs to provide health insurance for all, the overall expense will be more than 2 trillion. Health insurance companies will be administering 50 different programs and will, of course, hire lots of employees (probably in India) to deny coverage. I wish this country would bite the bullet and adopt a national health care program for all. The majority of people are in favor of it.

They could at least employee Americans who pay back into the system.

My mom was sick for a while and when she was in a nursing home I noticed that there are a percentage of patients who are in comas but aren't dying. This must be a huge costs. I a big supporter of hospice. I'm a boomer and I think my generation needs to rethink the death process. Has anyone ever did a study?

the system is broken America will never be competitive with the world unless we have national health insurance

Healtcare is going to eat away at this country more and more

While Bush leaves it to the Drug companies to draft the medicare program, totally in favor of the drug companies. How more pathetic can this be??!!

The drugs from Canada approach is so much of a band-aid solution it's painful to consider.

Here's the scenario: Pharma companies make drugs in the U.S. They export some of these to a country with a tenth of the population of the U.S., presumably supplying that country with just enough for its residents. Then U.S. consumers turn around and re-import these drugs from this much smaller market to take advantage of policies in Canada that the U.S. can't be bothered to implement.

How is that sustainable?

I don't understand the obsession with Canadian pharmaceuticals, when adoption of Canadian pharmaceutical policy would remove the need for this unworkable system.

Think of it this way: if your refrigerator sucks, what would make more sense? Spending all your energy trying to convince your neighbor to let you put all your food in her fridge? Or focusing on getting a fridge that works?

of inflation is "moderate."

It breaks down last year's health care spending into roughly the following:

1. 35% - Health Insurance
   
2. 30% - Hospital and related costs
   
3. 20% - Doctors and other health professionals
   
4. 10% - Prescription Drugs
   
5.   5% - Senior care
   

But it doesn't answer these vital questions:

• Does the 35% Health Insurance component include payments to the other 4 sectors?
  
• Or is this 35% all health insurer overhead?
  

If the 35% is all health insurer overhead, then this piece misses a story of enormous importance. Even I would be shocked to learn that insurers suck this much out of the system.

But if that's not the case, then what part of the 35% IS the health insurer overhead? And why hasn't the rest been allocated among the other components since it's insurance premium funds that were ultimately paid out to them.

From: US HSS NHE Tables

Data is for 2005. The whole healthcare industry runs a year behind on data reporting.

Here's a simplified summary.

2005 Breakdown of Healthcare Spending

Total 2005
Healthcare      ($Billion)
Spending         $ 1,988    100%
                     -------    -----
Invest & Rsch  $    127       6%
Hospital Care   $    612     31%
Prof Services   $    622     31%
Senior Care     $    169       9%
Drugs             $    201     10%
Med Products  $      58       3%
Insur. Admin  $    143        7%
Gov Admin     $      57         3%