Health Care Costs To Keep Rising

Economists Say Health Care Will Account For $1 Of Every $5 Spent In U.S. By 2016

(CBS/AP)  Health care is expected to account for $1 of every $5 spent in the United States in another decade.

That means a rise in out-of-pocket expenses, such as the co-pays for medicine, from about $850 this year to about $1,400 in 2016, a 5.3 percent annual increase.

The cost of health insurance is projected to rise even more quickly during that same time — 6.4 percent annually.

Over the coming decade, spending on health care will continue to outpace the overall economy. By the year 2016, it will total close to $4 trillion, economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a report being released Wednesday.

Today, the number is closer to $1 out of every $6, or $2 trillion.

"It's our expectation that by the year 2016, the end of our projection period, that health care costs, which currently consume about 16 percent of the total economy's expenditures, or GDP, by 2016 will consume about 20 percent of GDP," John Poisal, deputy director of the government's National Health Statistics Group, which did the study, told CBS Radio News.

Officials are worried by the news, reports CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts.

"This report is cause for concern," says Herb Kuhn of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. "Health care costs are going up much faster than general inflation."

Consumers are spending more on the latest treatments, despite their rising costs. For example, federal officials cite a significant increase in the use of imaging to detect blockages or other diseases.

Income will also play a significant role in the greater health spending. Historically, when income rises 1 percent, health expenditures go up about 1.5 percent, officials said.

"What that indicates is a desire to purchase good health," Poisal said.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has spent recent weeks traveling throughout the country, urging consumers and caregivers to give greater consideration to the price of various health procedures.

"People who have health insurance often don't care about price. People who don't have health care insurance can't find out the price even if they ask," he said in Detroit. "Medical pricing is a mystery to everybody."

The administration is pushing government agencies, insurers and health care providers to make information available that would help consumers become good shoppers. For example, Medicare lists the percentage of pneumonia patients at various hospitals who received a timely antibiotic, which is an indicator of the quality of care.

"We hope this information will help inform the discussions that go on at several different levels," Poisal said, "including those in Congress and other policy makers, other researchers and certainly the public needs to be informed of these things so that collectively we can make decisions about how to best proceed."

The economists said their study doesn't determine how much the rising costs will affect the average family in the U.S. There are too many factors involved, particularly when the federal government accounts for about half of overall health spending through programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The economists also predict that government programs will gradually replace employers when it comes to providing health insurance for millions of Americans.

"We are moving incrementally away from traditional sources of insurance, such as employer-based coverage, to a system comprising more federal and state government-provided health care," said the economists, whose report will be published in the journal Health Affairs.

[drinuk]

cdegolier. You're either stupid or a mouthpiece for Big Pharma and the FDA. Chemo is only 5% effective.

[azman80]

Not to mention that I am not a medicine person. And the "few" times I have taken an over the counter medicine, I actually got sick or sicker from my sickness that I did have. I dont believe in a artificial immune system if I already have one in my body.

[azman80]

Maybe there needs to be more of "grandma's home remedies for the fixes we can do at home. People go to the doctor to get medicine for a cold, well what happened to taking care of yourself and eating the right foods that actually take care of your body. If most of us can try to abide by those simple measures, we could cut the cost of healthcare by at least 30 percent, which is a huge number in the unhealthy-care industry. Plus, we as americans eat a lot of *** thats making us sick and weak in the immune system.

[anopinion1]

Maybe if the fat retards in this country who live off of mcdonalds and cigarettes would care about their health, this wouldnt be a problem.

[mstiger71]

Well just another way for the Goverment to get our money. If the Goverment would just do what other Countries do. The USA might be better off with the money problem in health care.

[moxford0]

Almost 3 billion a week being flushed down Bush't toilet in Iraq and no universal health care. Talk about no support for the American public. Oh well, we better get them there before they get us here! I still wondering how they are going to get here. Perhaps by flying a camel over the Atlantic?

[hawksprings]

j-whit, what's your answer? Turn it over to the govnmt?

Then we'll have a health care deliver system with the efficiency of the Post office with the heart of the IRS and the cost overruns of the military.

There needs to be more competition among healthcare providers so people will shop. That will bring the price down, but at the same time, the gov needs to back off a little on the paperwork required. And if the patient has to pay the bill and be reimbursed by the insurance company instead of the insurance company directly paying the provider, you'll see things change.

[j-whitman]

Hawksprings,,, Free enterprise, like in the GOP's free trade ???? Only costs jobs, manufacturing, intelectual assets, family survivorability... I don't think the GOP's concept of Free Enterprise is good at all.

[j-whitman]

Cde,,, Privatization of our military hasn't helped our military,, It won't help our health care either, only makes it more expensive.

[hawksprings]

Using the free enterprise system to health care would bring the cost down.
- Require docs, clinics and hosptitals to post their prices.
- Forbid insurance companies from paying the providers, instead they must reimburse the patient directly.
- Figure out a way to get some of the government out of health care, docs and hospitals spend a lot of time of forms for the various gov agencies.

Those three things would drive prices down.

[j-whitman]

Cdegller,, True, that problems always been there... Now it's in our faces on a much larger scale, & the governments changes has only made matters much worse... Just the oppisite, they push for more privatization & more lack of regulation... Then ignore the problems still.

[cdegolier]

California's Medi-Cal program spends $400 million out of a $1 billion dollar program on illegal immigrants, most of whom are pregnant. Getting rid of the illegals are a start to solving alot of our nations problems from health care costs, insurance costs, over crowded prisons and high unemployment but to name a few.

And of course at this forum illegals immigrants are caused by the Bush administration, just wait and see if anything will get done by the democrats, what was clintons proposal again?

[cdegolier]

"Do apricot kernels cure cancer? NO. Nothing C U R E S cancer. After all we have already argued that at any point of time we all have some cancer cells in our body, so the best prognosis is the fully effective control of a life threatening cancer. When that control can be exerted for twenty, thirty or fifty years a %u2018cure' becomes largely irrelevant." Quote from Dr. Tait's Book I'm Alive and On Fire

I have known several people who had tried the holistic treatments for cancer, some of them did not seek actual medical treatment until it was too late and another allowed his tumor to grow so large that by treating it holistically that by the time he had it medically removed he lost most of his lower jaw and part of his neck.

No thanks, I'll take my chances with an actuall doctor whom most of you believe do not want to treat cancer but just take your money and let you die. Get a Clue

[j-whitman]

Lonestar,,, Over the next 10 years it will take each person $76,000 per year to cover health care costs.

[j-whitman]

Lonestar,,, Wellness programs also doesn't addess the rising cost of health care nor the millions of Americans struggling to put food on thier tables or senior citizens who now have to provide many of thier own services due to Bush cuts or management.

[j-whitman]

Lonestar,,, It sounds like you're a health care professional, wellness programs are great -- But, it still doesn't address the problems our hospitles are facing,,,, Bush doesn't do anything about illegal immigrants flooding our hospitals, & driving them into bankrupcy,

[lonestartnow]

I'm posting as co-founder of a wellness initiative that addresses those mostly preventable diseases relating to obesity, overweight and lack of physical activity, that as individuals we can take the personal responsibility to do something about. These factors are related to more than 50 serious medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Expensive to treat diseases that are in great part preventable. There's lots of blame to go around as to why we pay so much for health care--and what we get in return--but there are solutions. Our program is having a huge impact in rural and community hospitals among their employees here in Texas. You can "purchase good health" as referred to in the article, in many cases by the choices you make.

[drinuk]

afmca. Absolutely on the button but dont be so pessimistic, as more people become aware of the evil scams and the incestuous relationship, politicians will fall in or get voted out. A few jail terms may focus their minds.

[afmca]

The first thing from Republicans will be a market based solution based on personal investment. Unfortunately for medical care this does not work. If you let market forces define the care you can afford - the ones with the least get one option - death. First we need a total system approach in which EVERYONE must join and pay some percentage of the cost. This will spread the risk across a huge population of healthy and unhealthy. All businesses must also pay a percentage so that nobody gains a competitive advantage. Pharma must be reigned in with public advertising and political contributions eliminated. Legal remedies must be on the table - gross negligence must be punished; but one cannot expect a perfect outcome for every surgical or medical procedure. Common sense must prevail and many lawyers will become unemployed.
Think our politicians will respond - duh !!!!

[drinuk]

neojoker, go to www.rain-tree.com look at Graviola, Bitter Melon and several other non patentable plants. The Apricot Kernal, check out vitamin B17.