In recent commentary on health care, Dr. Joseph Mercola provides some evaluative data on the bigger picture on health care benefits. For example, he quotes the Centers of Medicate & Medicaid Services (CMS) reports on the national health expenditure (NHE) as having increase 6.7% in 2006 to a total of $2.1 trillion dollars. That figure represents 16% of GDP and an average of $7,026 spent on health care is for each and every American. Out of pocket expenses paid by individuals amounted to $1.1 trillion or 54% of the total NHE. Prescription drug expenditures increased by 5.8% in the same year.
Based of CMS historical data, NHE was just $253.4 billion in 1980 or $1,100 per person, and accounted for 9.1% of GDP. Since 1960, Continue reading