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.
- Feb. 2009: Future Healthcare spending: 17.6% of U.S. economy (GDP) by 2018.
- Feb. 2010: Actual Healthcare spending HIT 17.3% of GDP in 2009.
- 2013: Future Healthcare spending: 18.2% of U.S. economy by 2014.
- It’s 2014, stay tuned!
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.”
[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.
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