From the Times-Tribune.com:
“For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth that has accompanied the debate over health care reform, it turns out that Americans like their government-funded health care just fine…
“A new report by Medicare demonstrates the folly of that reasoning and adds urgency to the need for meaningful reform in order to reduce health care costs.
“To begin with, the cost of health care jumped substantially to a total of $2.5 trillion in 2009. That amounted to 17.3 percent of the national economy, up from 16.2 percent in 2008 – the largest increase, by percentage and dollars, since record-keeping began in 1960.
“Of that $2.5 trillion, $1.2 trillion – 48 percent – was paid directly by the federal and state governments through Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ and children’s programs.”
Click here to read the full story.
