Obama’s Four Years Healthcare Spending: $10.6 Trillion

The United States has the highest healthcare spending in the world. Chart Source: Business Insider
The United States has the highest healthcare spending in the world. Chart Source: Business Insider

Obama’s Four Years Healthcare Spending: $10.6 Trillion

original article written by Net Advisor™

WASHINGTON DC. Try not to have a heart attack when reading how much taxpayer money is being spent on healthcare from just 2009 to 2012.

When doing research for this report, I found so much data on healthcare spending, that I have concluded that healthcare is way too big to be managed on a centralized level. This issue may be better addressed at the state level.

When calculating healthcare costs we can look at prescription drug costs which vary widely, premiums which vary widely, healthcare costs by each state, and Medicare costs on the federal level. Then there are subsidized funding programs, entitlement programs both on the state and federal level, it’s just a mess. To avoid writing a series of healthcare novels, I’ve summarized the total federal healthcare spending under President Obama.

[1] Federal HealthCare Spending up 12% or $300 Billion from 2009-2012

  • 2009: Healthcare Spending: $2.5 Trillion (record).
  • 2010: Healthcare Spending: $2.6 Trillion (record).
  • 2011: Healthcare Spending: $2.7 Trillion (record) and = 46% federal revenues.
  • 2012: Healthcare Spending: $2.8 Trillion (record).
  • 2013: Healthcare Spending: Could not verify full year accurate data at time of post.
  • Total Healthcare Spending (2009-2012): $10.6 Trillion

Based on this dollar growth rate, if healthcare spending is maintained in the future as it was from 2009-2012, then we are looking at $1 Trillion added to healthcare costs every 10 years. My general prediction is healthcare costs will be more than this estimate.

[2] Future HealthCare Spending is Already Here
The projected future costs of healthcare are already here. In 2009, projected healthcare spending would become 17.6% of the economy in 9 years. Two years later, the 2009 estimate was revised higher. We already hit these future spending predictions years in advance.

What this means is government is not calculating healthcare needs or projected costs by any accurate measure.

[3] More HealthCare Spending Does Not Equal Longer Lives
A 2012 report found that the U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, yet has the eighth-lowest life expectancy in the world.

“Spending a great deal on health care does not result in a healthier population. Of 34 OECD member countries, only three that spent the most per person have citizens that live the longest.

The United States spends more than any other country but only has the eighth-lowest life expectancy in the OECD.

Japan, meanwhile, spends $2,878 per person — about $5,000 less than the U.S. — and has the highest life expectancy among developed nations.”

— Source: Huffington Post (HTML PDF)

[4] Obamacare will probably hurt the middle-class the most
According to a study (PDF) by the Rand Corporation, healthcare costs are hurting middle-class Americans. Clearly the wealthy can afford it, and the poor are generally subsidized by government (taxpayers). The middle-class takes the big economic hit when it comes to healthcare costs.

Our healthcare reports are published here.

____________________________________________________________________________

Original article content, Copyright © 2014 NetAdvisor.org® All Rights Reserved.

NetAdvisor.org® is a non-profit organization providing public education and analysis primarily on the U.S. financial markets, personal finance and analysis with a transparent look into U.S. public policy. We also perform and report on financial investigations to help protect the public interest. Read More.

___________________________________________________________________________

Related Articles

No Picture
Political Commentary

Sen. Harry Reid: Obama’s 6 Year Pocket Veto

WASHINGTON DC. President Obama hasn’t had to do too much legislatively, when then Majority Whip Harry Reid (D-Nev.) effectively ruled the over the U.S. Senate from Jan. 3, 2007 to Jan. 3, 2015.

The fact that Reid had control over the U.S. Senate for six consecutive years under President Obama (and two years under Bush) did not sway many in the media including Bloomberg, CBS, the Hill, Huffington Post, Reuters, and the Washington Post, who together among others attempted to blame Republicans for a ‘do nothing Congress.’ Some Democrats have even tried to pin the Ebola Virus as caused by Republicans.

These theories are politically driven caused by massive repeating of a narrative without factual evidence. Since these ‘do nothing’ Congress issues were raised since President Obama took office in 2009 that is where we will begin our study. We included the last term of who controlled Congress before President Obama took office in case anyone was curious. Read More…

No Picture
HealthCare

What You Need to Know BEFORE Buying Health Insurance [Part IV]

This is Part IV (“Risks of Under-Insuring”) of our five-part series on information to help you understand about health insurance costs, choosing the right plan for you, and how the industry works.

So far we have covered health insurance basics, choosing a provider, and strategies for HealthCare planning. So what if I ignored all this and just got the cheapest monthly insurance premium with highest deductibles and co-insurance? What could go wrong?

[12] Risks of Under-Insuring.

What is under-insurance risk? When you don’t have enough insurance to cover your particular liability. This can be related to any insurance, health, auto, personal liability, business liability, life and umbrella. When there is liability, or an accident and your insurance doesn’t cover the bills, one could end up in another difficult financial situation they may not have anticipated.

Report highlights also include:
[13] $50,000 Medical Bills Hypothetical Situation

“Catastrophic” Insurance Plan: $6,500 Annual deductible and 70/30 Co-Insurance Plan, with $50,000 medical bills:

[14] Analysis of Government HealthCare Plans
Is HHS Misleading Americans About the True Costs of Health Insurance?

[15] #1 Leading Cause of U.S. Bankruptcies are Due to Medical-related Bills.

Read More..

No Picture
HealthCare

What You Need to Know BEFORE Buying Health Insurance [Part I]

[Preface]. The following is a four-part series on information to help you understand about health insurance costs, choosing the right plan for you, and how the industry works. The author or NetAdvisor.org® does NOT have any financial interest in any insurance company and does not represent any healthcare provider, insurance company or agent. We are a non-profit organization and we attempt to help provide information to better educate the public interest.

HEALTHCARE. [Part I: “Health Insurance Basics”].
When I was in the insurance business, I would help people with general insurance questions they might not consider. In most cases, I found that people just looked at how much is this policy going to cost, and get me the least expensive one. I would ask (sometimes with humor), would it be OK if the policy left out something that you might need?

My primary business was securities and investing where I had six different securities licenses, including management oversight/ regulatory compliance and three different insurance licenses in case clients needed insurance.

“The purpose of insurance is to protect yourself or family against unforeseeable risk.” Read More…