Health-care costs in America continue to increase at an unsustainable pace. Medically related costs consume more than 17 percent of our gross domestic product. For 2009, health-care spending averaged $8,100 for every resident of the United States. Health-related debt is a major factor in many personal bankruptcies.
For 2009, costs were unequally distributed across the population. Five percent of Americans accounted for almost half of the nation’s consumption of health-related services. By contrast, the healthier half of the population was responsible for just 3 percent of health expenditures. Fifteen
percent of Americans had no health-related expenses for the year.
These findings, were summarized in a July 2011 report by the National Institute for Health Care Management.
Chronic conditions, especially those associated with obesity, were prominent drivers of costs as was age greater than 55 years.