US Health Insurance Costs

In the United States health care is provided by a variety of different entities. Most health care and medical facilities are both owned and operated by the private sector and not the public sector. The same can be said for health insurance across the country. The exceptions to this include these health programs- Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, the Veterans Health Administration and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

This growth in the cost of United States health care has made the topic a major policy priority. The government along with employers and average consumers are working hard to find ways to keep up with the rising costs. The cost of health insurance also figures into this as well. Many people in the United States simply cannot afford to have health insurance coverage because their incomes do not leave them any room for it.

Health care spending in the United States in the year 2008 was an estimated $7,681 per resident. This spending accounted for 16.2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation. This amount of spending is amongst the highest of all of the industrialized nations that span the globe. In 2008 total health care expenditures grew at a slower rate than in recent years past. They grew at a yearly rate of 4.4 percent. However the spending was still higher than the growth in national income and it still outpaced inflation.

While American citizens benefit from the investments that the government has made in terms of health care, the strain that has resulted from a rising federal deficit, increased costs and the overall slowdown of the economy has brought about difficulties in financing quality health care. All of these aspects have affected public health insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid and it has also affected private employer- sponsored health insurance plans.

The United States has the “third highest public health care expenditure per capita.” The fact that individuals without health insurance cannot receive the quality health care that insured individuals can is a very real concern. According to a 2001 study done in five states across the U.S. it was found that 62 percent of bankruptcies were the result of a lack of insurance leading to medical debt. Since 2001 health costs have increased and so has the number of citizens that are uninsured and underinsured.

Health insurance programs that are funded by the government such as Medicaid and Medicare account for a large amount of money spent on health care. However the spending on public health insurance has increased at a slower pace than it has when it comes to private insurance. For example, per capita spending on Medicare has grown at the rate of 6.8 percent in comparison to spending on private health insurance which has grown at the rate of 7.1 percent annually for a 10 year period from 1998 to 2008.

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